We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations and human rights activists, call on the Government of Montenegro and its Prime Minister Milojko Spajić to clearly, publicly, and without relativization condemn the glorification of war criminals with final convictions by holders of public office, and to cut off support to such officials. We believe that no holder of public office should enjoy the political support of the Government if they present a war criminal with a final conviction as a hero.

The Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, Andrija Mandić, publicly offered condolences to the son of Ratko Mladić, a man with a final conviction for genocide in Srebrenica, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The President of the Municipality of Pljevlja, Dario Vraneš, went even further, calling Mladić “an immortal Serbian general” in an obituary notice. It is particularly concerning that Prime Minister Spajić and his party, the Europe Now Movement (PES), provide direct political protection to the Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, Andrija Mandić, while failing to clearly condemn his glorification of a war criminal under the guise of a “folk custom.” The same applies to Vraneš’s actions in Pljevlja, which have likewise gone uncommented.

Tolerating this kind of behavior by the country’s second-highest official means that preserving the parliamentary majority is being placed above the basic norms of a civilized society and Montenegro’s membership in the European Union. In this way, the Government is becoming a direct accomplice in normalizing an ideology that celebrates genocide.

Glorifying a war criminal is not some kind of “custom” in a democratic society, as the Speaker of Parliament attempted to portray it. Glorifying individuals with final convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes is an attack on the values that form the foundation of human rights, the rule of law, and the culture of remembrance for victims of crimes. When such messages come from holders of the highest state and local offices, they acquire institutional weight and send the message that the state tolerates the glorification of perpetrators of the gravest crimes and the humiliation of their victims.

Glorifying Ratko Mladić is at the same time glorifying a militaristic and nationalist policy that left behind mass killings, persecution, camps, systematic sexual violence, and destroyed communities. Declaring a convicted war criminal a hero normalizes force, domination, and violence as desirable models of political and social conduct.

Montenegro must clearly distance itself from the policy of the Republic of Serbia regarding Ratko Mladić’s legacy, including the decision that his funeral be accompanied by the highest state and military honors. However, Montenegro cannot speak of this as a neutral observer. Its political leadership and state structures at the time participated in the wartime policies of the 1990s and bear responsibility for their consequences. That is why today’s silence is not merely the absence of a diplomatic reaction, but a continuation of the refusal to allow Montenegrin society to confront its own past. The Government’s silence regarding the aforementioned funeral, combined with its simultaneous tolerance of the glorification of Mladić by officials and political partners in government, does not amount to a distancing from the policy of relativizing genocide. On the contrary, such a benevolent stance seriously calls into question the credibility of Montenegro’s declared commitment to European values.

For years, the institutions of the European Union have clearly stated that there is no place — either in the European Union or in the countries seeking to join it — for the glorification of war criminals, the denial of genocide, or the relativization of crimes established by final judgments. The European Commission repeated this again yesterday. Montenegro is a candidate country — a country that wishes to become an EU member soon. For this reason, it no longer has room for political ambiguity. Condemning the glorification of war criminals is not a concession to the EU, nor a technical condition of accession, but a debt owed to the victims and a basic condition for building a just and peaceful society. Montenegro must reject the politics of crime for its own sake, not merely for the sake of EU membership.

We demand that the Government of Montenegro:

• publicly and individually condemn the actions of every public official who has glorified Ratko Mladić, and cut off political support to such officials;
• request that the parliamentary parties in government cut off their political support to such officials and initiate mechanisms of political accountability;
• unambiguously announce that Montenegro distances itself from the glorification of Ratko Mladić and from his farewell with state and military honors in the Republic of Serbia;
• clearly affirm that respect for the final judgments of international courts and for the dignity of victims is an integral part of Montenegro’s European policy;
• express its expectation that the State Prosecutor’s Office act without further delay on the complaints filed regarding the public approval, denial, or minimization of genocide and other war crimes, in accordance with the law;
• ensure that, going forward, state institutions and their representatives do not lend political legitimacy to the glorification of convicted war criminals.

We also demand that the Government use its influence and take all necessary steps to have removed, in Kotor, a graffiti on the newly opened boulevard in Grbalj, which reads: “Ratko Mladić — the youth eternally glorifies you, the Lord’s judgment is the only true one,” reported by the media on September 6. We are dismayed that Kotor has not removed this content from public space since it was reported.

The Government’s response to all of this is a test of Montenegro’s democratic capacity, its attitude toward the victims of the wars of the 1990s, and the credibility of its European path.

Ratko Mladić is not a hero, but a man with a final conviction for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. One’s attitude toward this fact is not a matter of national identity, ideology, or differing interpretations of history, but a basic threshold of values for a democratic society. Silence in the face of the glorification of a criminal humiliates the victims and sends the political message that crime, when committed by “our own,” can be justified.

It is time for the Government of Montenegro to clearly choose European values and the dignity of victims over political tolerance of the glorification of war criminals. There can be no compromise on this.

Non-governmental organizations:

1. Human Rights Action (HRA)
2. Centre for Civic Education (CCE)
3. Centre for Women’s and Peace Education ANIMA
4. Juventas
5. Association “Štrpci — Against Forgetting”
6. Women’s Rights Center
7. SPEKTRA Association
8. PRIMA
9. Centre for the Development of NGOs (CRNVO)
10. Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG)
11. Montenegrin Women’s Lobby
12. Dr Martin Schneider-Jacoby Association
13. LBTQ Women’s Association “Stana”
14. Women’s Action
15. Montenegrin Committee of Lawyers for the Protection of Human Rights
16. Antifascists of Cetinje
17.  Women’s Safe House
18. Civic Initiative 21 May
19. First Women’s Environmental Movement in Montenegro — Ecopatriotism
20. Centre for Culture Bihor
21. Ikre Rožaje
22. Centre for Roma Initiatives
23. Centre for Democratic Transition (CDT)
24. 35mm
25. Ipso Facto
26. Centre for Monitoring and Research (CeMI)
27. Alliance for Children and Youth — Home
28. Montenegrin PEN Centre
29. Montenegrin Philological Society
30. Media Institute of Montenegro
31. Empty Space
32. Montenegrin LGBTIQ Association Queer Montenegro
33. Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM)
34. Green Home
35. Korifej teatar
36. Association for the Protection and Promotion of Citizens’ Rights “Pravozastupnik”
37. Municipal Multiple Sclerosis Association of Bijelo Polje
38. Roma Youth Organisation “Walk with Us – Phiren Amenca”

Civic activists:

1. Jovana Marović
2. Dina Bajramspahić
3. Paula Petričević
4. Milena Bešić
5. Aleksandar Dragićević
6. Mladen Ivanović
7. Darko Saveljić
8. Vuk Iković
9. Emir Pilav
10. Dušan Pajović
11. Nikoleta Đukanović
12. Milica Kankaraš Berber
13. Sabina Talović
14. Goran Đurović
15. Almedina Dodić
16. Danijel Kalezić
17. Aleksandar Saša Zeković
18. Maja Bogojević
19. Biljana Maslovarić
20. Vesna Rajković Nenadić
21. Ana Milović Jasikovac