War criminal Ratko Mladić to get a street in Montenegro?

The name of Hague convict Ratko Mladić is among the proposals for street names in Berane, a town in northern Montenegro. The proposal is on the list adopted by the municipal Council for proposing names of settlements, streets, and squares. In Berane, almost half of the population is of Serbian nationality.

The municipal Council is headed by Goran Kiković from the New Serbian Democracy, a party of Andrija Mandić. That party is part of the Democratic Front, a coalition that is in power at the state level with two other coalitions - Democrats and the Civic Movement URA.

Proposals adopted by the Council for naming streets and squares must go through a procedure that includes public debate, approval by the relevant Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, before the councilors of the local parliament finally decide on them.

“So, it has not been adopted, the Council, which is composed of representatives of political parties, NGOs, etc., can consider all proposals from citizens and forward them for further procedure, but it is not the final stance of the local self-government, nor the Municipality of Berane, nor the competent authorities. It remained only at the proposal stage,” says the President of the Municipality of Berane, Dragoslav Šćekić, for Radio Free Europe.

There have been similar attempts in the past for war criminal Ratko Mladić to get a street in the neighboring country, but they did not have support. Ratko Mladić was sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide in Srebrenica, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout BiH, the terrorization of the population of Sarajevo through long-term shelling, and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.