Croatian Prime Minister Criticizes Serbia at UN Over Honoring of Convicted War Criminal Mladic

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to criticize Serbia over what he described as the honoring of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander convicted of genocide and war crimes by international tribunals.

Plenkovic told the assembly that acts of historical revisionism in the region threaten to undo years of progress toward reconciliation among the countries of the former Yugoslavia, according to Anadolu Agency.

Mladic was sentenced to life in prison by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. His case remains a flashpoint in relations between Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Croatian leader's remarks reflect persistent tension in the Balkans over how the wars of the 1990s are remembered, with officials in the region frequently trading accusations over commemorations, monuments and public statements tied to wartime figures.

Plenkovic did not detail the specific incident that prompted his remarks, but his comments come amid a broader pattern of diplomatic friction between Zagreb and Belgrade over the legacy of the Yugoslav wars.