“The European Union has a clear and firm stance on the need to effectively overcome the legacy of the past, refrain from any glorification of war crimes and encourage reconciliation,” the European Commission has told the Voice of America (VoA).
This statement comes in response to convicted war criminal Dragan Vasiljkovic launching a petition for the presidential pardon of Zvezdan Jovanovic, a member of the disbanded Special Operations Unit who is serving a prison sentence for the 2003 assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.
Dragan Vasiljkovic (BETAPHOTO/HINA/Mario STRMOTIC)
The statement, delivered by EC spokesperson Ana Pisonero Hernandez, underscored that any country seeking to join the EU is expected to honor and promote the Union’s fundamental values, the rule of law, democracy and justice, the VoA reported in the evening of Oct. 11.
Previously, the U.S. Embassy told the VoA that it was difficult to comprehend why a convicted war criminal was afforded public space to promote liberating the assassin of Serbia’s first democratically elected prime minister.
The unnamed U.S. Embassy spokesperson pointed out that it would be best to pose this question to the Serbian authorities, which the VoA did but failed to receive a reply from the offices of either Prime Minister Ana Brnabic or President Aleksandar Vucic.
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