BRUSSELS: The European Union on Wednesday called on Balkan countries to "honour the victims" of war crimes by working towards reconciliation, after former Bosnian Serbian commander Ratko Mladic was found guilty of genocide.
UN judges in The Hague sentenced Mladic, dubbed the "Butcher of Bosnia", to life in jail for crimes committed during the 1992-1995 war that killed 100,000 people as ethnic rivalries tore apart Yugoslavia.
The EU refused to comment in detail on the Mladic verdict but said it recalled "some of the darkest, most tragic events" of recent European history, including the 1996 massacre in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, where troops under his command slaughtered almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
"The European Union trusts that all the countries in the region are determined and committed to work towards reconciliation, regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations," the bloc said in a statement.
"We expect all political leaders in the region to honour the victims by promoting and respecting these commitments."
Two former Yugoslav countries -- Croatia and Slovenia -- have joined the EU and Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia have begun the accession process, though their efforts have become bogged down in local disputes and problems with graft and organised crime.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said earlier this month he expected Serbia and Montenegro to join the bloc by 2025.
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