War criminal glorification in Serbia and Montenegro

In Serbia, reports from the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) indicate that mainstream pro-government media outlets provide significant platforms to convicted war criminals, such as Vojislav Šešelj. The YIHR publication, ‘State of Denial – Serbia 2025: War Criminals as Deserving Citizens’, suggests that the presence of these figures in public discourse, supported by state institutions, drives the denial and relativization of wartime atrocities. Regulatory bodies have reportedly failed to issue sanctions regarding hate speech or the relativization of crimes from the 1990s.

Similarly, in Montenegro, political activist Emir Pilav has criticized the state for failing to prosecute the glorification of war criminals. This follows statements by Metodija Ostojić, a metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who described Pavle Đurišić as an ‘inspired hero’ and linked Ratko Mladić to the ‘holy virtues’ of the Serbian people. While the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje rejected a criminal complaint regarding comments on Đurišić, an investigation into comments regarding Mladić remains pending. Pilav argued that state silence regarding such rhetoric constitutes a “conscious humiliation of victims.”