Director of the Agency for the Exercise of the Rights of Communities, Dalibor Kitanovic, is facing public criticism after sharing an Instagram post about former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, who died on August 27 while serving a life sentence in custody in The Hague.
A post by the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia also described Mladic as a general who devoted his life to his people. SDSM and DUI called for accountability, with SDSM asking Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski to clarify whether the post reflected the government’s position.
DUI called for Kitanovic’s dismissal. The VLEN coalition also condemned what it described as glorification of Mladic and the Chetnik movement.
“Anyone who does not respect the victims and the values of coexistence cannot be a guarantor of the rights of communities”, VLEN said.
The government said the glorification of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic is unacceptable, stressing that he was found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by an international court. It described Agency Director Dalibor Kitanovic’s post as a personal position and said he should withdraw it or resign if he disagrees with government policy.
“The government’s position is clear and based on internationally established legal facts”, the government said.
This announcement provoked criticism by LDP, who found the government’s reaction inadequate. VMRO-DPMNE declined to comment, saying it did not want to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.