Removal of Mladic murals in the north, Russian and Serbian media turn into victimization narrative

Murals depicting Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladić will be removed from the municipality of Zubin Potok, said Mayor Izmir Zeqiri, adding that all murals containing elements of ethnic hatred will be removed, as he believes this is in the best interest of all.

On Sunday morning, in the presence of members of the Kosovo police, graffiti and murals dedicated to Patriarch Pavle and Metropolitan Amfilohije were repainted in the center of North Mitrovica.

As expected, this news attracted a lot of attention and negative connotations from the Russian media in Serbia, as well as from Serbian media outlets sympathetic to Aleksandar Vučić’s regime.

The media in Serbia under government control – including Sputnik Serbia and RT Balkan – mostly promote a pro-Russian narrative. They most often portray global events from the Kremlin’s perspective, with aggressive anti-Western rhetoric, which means that their news about the murals does not come from a neutral standpoint.

In this case, Sputnik Serbia and RT Balkan (articles titled “Office for Kosovo on Kurtic’s ‘crackdown’ on murals: You painted in vain”; “Suppression of murals and graffiti: Even Albanians fear Ratko Mladić’s paintings”) exclusively report on the statements of the Office for Kosovo, without reporting on any position of Pristina or local authorities. Therefore, they do not offer alternative voices from Pristina, the EU, or independent analysts.

This maintains the dominant position of the authorities without any orientation toward pluralism and in-depth debate.

This clearly places the interpretation of events within the framework of the Serbian narrative, without any alternative.

These Russian media outlets in Serbia act as an extension of Serbian state institutions rather than as media with an independent, critical approach.

They condemn the removal of murals dedicated to Ratko Mladić, Patriarch Pavle, Metropolitan Amfilohije, and the graffiti “There is no way back from here.”

The Belgrade Office for Kosovo, as quoted in the texts, believes that this is a “settling of scores by the Prime Minister of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government” Albin Kurti, who, they say, is motivated by “hatred and obsession with anti-Serbian politics” and wants to cover up his political failure.

The rhetorical charge used is “you painted in vain,” which could be interpreted as a message about the persistence of the Serbs, who are presented as a strong people, connected to their ancestors, who carefully protect their war criminals, and an unshakable nation in the face of the “night actions” of the authorities in Pristina.

The message “you painted in vain” could be interpreted not only as a metaphor for resistance and steadfastness, but also as something more than mere reporting, something that turns into political mobilization.

It uses emotional, often nationalistic language (“hatred,” “obsession,” “reckoning,” “night raids,” etc.), which further polarizes the reader and reinforces the identity of Serbs as a “threatened community.”

Murals and graffiti are presented as symbols of collective memory, identity, and resistance, and their disappearance is not presented as a question of aesthetics or public space, but as a political act against Serbian identity.

The articles do not offer contextual reasons, such as the legal regulation of public space, possible disputes over illegal murals, who the figures in the murals actually are, or the views of local authorities. This leaves a one-sided narrative—emotionally charged, without analysis of the bigger picture or legality.

Moscow and Belgrade often rely on rhetoric such as: “Pristina’s prime minister’s crackdown on murals,” “hatred and obsession with anti-Serbian politics,” “you painted in vain” – and thus often use emotional, national identity charges to confirm Serbian victimhood.

A headline on the Serbian portal Glas javnosti, which is close to Vučić’s regime, such as “Albanians fear Ratko Mladić, so they paint murals and graffiti,” indicates an emotionally charged tone and directs the reader toward the symbolism of fear and the removal of protected identity values./The Geopost/