Pupovac to ‘Vijesti’: Mandić must undo the damage of his condolences to the Mladić family

The condolences that Montenegrin Assembly speaker Andrija Mandić (NSD) sent over the death of war criminal Ratko Mladić conflict with the role Mandić currently plays on the political scene — as part of the governing majority that must take Montenegro into the European Union and preserve the country’s democratic and political unity after years of division.

For this reason, Mandić first, and then others, must find a way to undo the consequences of his act — Milorad Pupovac, deputy in the Croatian Parliament and president of the Independent Democratic Serb Party, told “Vijesti” in a written interview.

Pupovac, one of the few Serb politicians who condemned the glorification of Mladić, said cases of celebrating war criminals as heroes are happening because of the weakening of international justice mechanisms and the rise of politicians and policies that rehabilitate their crimes — “a highly irresponsible and dangerous trend of turning back toward wars.”

Speaking about former Croatian prime minister Jadranka Kosor’s call for Croatia to block Montenegro’s European path because of Mandić’s telegram, Pupovac said he does not consider a blockade reasonable — just as he had not considered acceptable the Slovenian blockade of Croatia in the past — adding that mutual blockades by former Yugoslav republics are non-European in motive and contaminate European politics with the ghosts of war.

He positively assessed the fact that most Serb politicians in Montenegro have taken responsibility for the country’s European future and political unity, and said that Serbs in Montenegro have their center in Podgorica, just as Serbs in Croatia have theirs in Zagreb.

Source: Vijesti