The declaration comes after Serbia held a mass funeral for a convicted war criminal. Nine EU member states have adopted a resolution reaffirming that countries glorifying war crimes and genocide cannot accede to the bloc. The declaration, published by Croatia’s government, was adopted during the so-called Med9 summit in the Croatian city of Split on Wednesday, an informal gathering of the heads of state and government of nine Mediterranean EU member states. The resolution was signed by countries including France, Spain, Italy and Greece. Although the text does not name any specific countries, several news outlets in the Balkans region reported that the message is likely directed toward Serbia, where a public funeral attended by thousands was held last month for convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić. The resolution states that “credible progress towards membership requires every candidate country to demonstrate sustained adherence to the Union’s fundamental values.” It says that such values include “a genuine commitment to reconciliation and the unequivocal rejection of glorification of war crimes and genocide.” The language mirrors a statement published by the EU’s diplomatic service on the day of Mladić’s funeral last month, which said “any glorification of war criminals, genocide denial and revisionism contradict the most fundamental European values and have no place in the EU or in EU candidate countries.” Mladić was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of genocide for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which about 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed after Bosnian Serb forces overran the UN-designated enclave. The former military commander’s death while serving his sentence in The Hague stirred up strong feelings linking back to the break-up of Yugoslavia and the ethnic conflicts that ensued in the Balkans. His lavish funeral showed how revered Mladić remains among many in Serbia. In addition to its statement on genocide, the joint pact published by the Med9 on Wednesday also reaffirmed dedication to work toward meeting a variety of other EU goals, such as those regarding security and climate, and said that “EU enlargement is a geostrategic investment in peace, security and prosperity.” “The future of the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova lies within the European Union,” it said. The agreement was adopted by all nine EU countries represented at the summit – Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. Serbia has been an EU candidate country since 2012, but its accession process has stalled amid friction with Brussels on a variety of issues, including Belgrade’s continued friendly relations with Russia despite the latter’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Government and state representatives of nine Mediterranean EU countries met in Croatia on Wednesday. (Council of the European Union)
