Balkan societies struggle to confront historical war crimes

Recent events in the Balkans highlight the difficulty societies face when confronting dark chapters of their history. In Belgrade, thousands of people participated in the funeral of war criminal Ratko Mladić, celebrating him as a hero despite his role as a primary perpetrator of the Srebrenica genocide.

In contrast, the sentencing of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi to 25 years in prison for war crimes has met with widespread indignation among many Kosovo Albanians. If the verdict is upheld on appeal, Thaçi faces responsibility for approximately 300 cases of torture and nearly 100 killings.