The European Union on Monday condemned comments by a Montenegrin minister who expressed doubts about the genocide in Srebrenica, considered the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
In 1995, during Bosnia's devastating 1990s war, Serb forces massacred 8,000 Muslim men and teenagers in Srebrenica. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice ruled that this was genocide.
But Justice Minister Vladimir Leposavic told parliament last week: "I'm ready to admit that there was a genocide in Srebrenica when that is unequivocally determined."
Leposavic, a pro-Serb politician who has addressed nationalist rallies, is also a legal advisor of Montenegro's powerful Serbian Orthodox Church.
Asked about the minister's comments, EU spokesperson Ana Pisonero told journalists: "It is well known that the EU rejects and condemns any denial, relativisation or misinterpretation of the genocide in Srebrenica.
On Twitter, she wrote: "Any country aspiring to join the EU is expected to comply with and promote EU values of democracy, human rights, tolerance and justice.
"This includes treating victims of genocide with utmost respect and dignity."
Several Western embassies in Podgorica have already denounced Leposavic's remarks, while opposition politicians have called on him to resign.
A statement from Montenegro's government stressed that it condemned "all war crimes" committed during the bloody breakup of former Yugoslavia.
But it added: "The government neither wants, nor can change decisions made by international courts, but also (doesn't want to) proclaim one nation as genocidal, and another one as holy".