10 September 2026 | 19:10

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Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman expressed concern to several European counterparts, meeting today in Riga, about Serbia’s handling of the funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić and the implications for stability in the Western Balkans and for Serbia’s EU accession process.

Today and tomorrow the Latvian National Museum of History is hosting “The Rīga Conference 2026”, the region’s main annual forum on security and foreign policy. The foreign minister is attending the event and, before the conference officially opened, took part in a working dinner with his counterparts from Latvia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland and Poland. On that occasion, Grlić Radman raised the issue of Mladić’s glorification.

“Croatia strongly supports the European perspective for the Western Balkans,” the minister said at the Riga conference, stressing the importance of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European future, equal rights for its three constituent peoples and legitimate political representation for Croats, according to a press release from the Croatian Foreign Ministry. He said EU enlargement is a strategic investment for a secure and prosperous Europe. Grlić Radman also called for a coordinated European response to increasing hybrid and destabilizing activities by Russia, and for stronger cooperation between the EU and NATO.