US lawmakers visit Srebrenica as Washington condemns state honors for Ratko Mladic

This symbolic gesture accompanied sharp warnings from top-tier US policymakers. Senior members of the US Congress and Senate issued a joint statement directed at authorities in Belgrade and Banja Luka ahead of Mladic's burial at the Topcider Cemetery in Belgrade, reiterating that he was a convicted criminal and the architect of genocide. The joint declaration, signed by Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Chuck Grassley alongside Representative Keith Self, underscored legally established historical facts.

In their joint declaration, they said that Ratko Mladic was a war criminal and the architect of the Srebrenica genocide, in which over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were murdered. His forces were also responsible for the siege of Sarajevo, one of the longest in modern history. They stressed that his actions represent some of the most inhumane crimes committed on European soil since the Second World War.

American lawmakers strongly condemned announcements of state and military honors, as well as remarks from officials such as Milorad Dodik, who publicly labeled Mladic a fighter for Serbian freedom. Washington warned that any government glorifying his death insults the memory of victims and a region still dealing with the consequences of ethnic cleansing. US officials urged the governments of Serbia and the Republika Srpska entity to refrain from participating in the planned ceremonies and to ensure no official acts commemorate Mladic as anything other than a convicted architect of genocide, noting that these developments serve as a critical test of Belgrade and Banja Luka's willingness to break from the past.

Since Mladic's death in prison on August 27, numerous displays glorifying his legacy have emerged across Serbia and the Republika Srpska, ranging from football supporter chants to murals and banners. The atmosphere has been further heightened by the entity public broadcaster, RTRS, which broadcasted a special program dedicated to the Belgrade funeral. RTRS previously faced intense backlash for broadcasting a commemoration that glorified Mladic without editorial context or reference to court-mandated facts.

In response to those broadcasts, the OSCE Mission to BiH and the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media urged judicial authorities to investigate potential violations of Bosnia's criminal code and called on the Communications Regulatory Agency (RAK) to sanction RTRS for ethical and programmatic breaches. Consequently, BH Telecom suspended the signal of the entity public broadcaster.