TOULOUSE – In today’s statement, the Political Assembly of the European People’s Party (EPP) echoed “the disbelief and condemnation” expressed by the EPP leadership and international community over the funeral of Ratko Mladić in Serbia at the beginning of September.
“In the framework of the ongoing scrutiny process of SNS, these recent events cannot be ignored”, the statement adds.
The ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has been an associate member of EPP since 2016, has been under scrutiny since September 2025 due to suspicions about whether it respects EPP values. There has been no conclusion of this process so far.
“The scenes from the funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić in Belgrade were deeply disturbing. Mladić was responsible for the Srebrenica genocide and a string of the gravest war crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia. His crimes were established by international courts and must never be relativised, glorified, or forgotten”, today’s statement reads.
Instead of confronting this dark legacy, we have witnessed public and state honours at his funeral, the participation of senior Serbian officials, and an open outpouring of support in public places, the statement reads.
“Such acts are profoundly troubling and stand in stark contradiction to the values of reconciliation, respect for victims, and accountability that underpin the European project”, the statement adds.
