Costa and Von der Leyen also declare: The footage from Mladic's funeral was shocking

After being criticized for their silence about the glorification of war criminal Ratko Mladic, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen both spoke out on Tuesday morning, calling the images from Belgrade "shocking."

"The scenes from Ratko Mladic's funeral yesterday in Belgrade were shocking. Ratko Mladic was convicted of war crimes. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He died while serving a life sentence for genocide in Srebrenica and other crimes. The elements of official support and the presence of some Serbian officials at the funeral are deeply regrettable. This is a failure to confront a dark chapter in the new European history and is against the values ​​that lead Serbia towards the EU," said posts with the same content by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa. "Our thoughts today are with the victims of the crimes committed in the space of the former Yugoslavia," said the statements of the two heads of the two main institutions of the European Union.

Costa and Von der Leyen were also criticized yesterday by the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, for their silence. The Croatian head of government had said that Serbia's glorification of Mladic is not something that only EU spokespeople can talk about, but that Costa, Von der Leyen and Kallas should also declare themselves. Diplomatic sources say that other countries have also asked for a clearer reaction from the EU.