Article by Remus Dinu – Published Saturday, November 15, 2025, 7:54 p.m. / Updated Saturday, November 15, 2025, 7:55 p.m.
Bosnia – Romania. At the request of Gazeta Sporturilur, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the disturbing images published today by Bosnian journalistswho claim that a group of Romanian supporters displayed a banner glorifying the war criminal Ratko Mladic, responsible for the Srebenica Massacre, where thousands of Bosniaks were brutally murdered.
Scandal with repetition at Romania-Bosnia. 14 years after the Romanian fans evoked the former commander of Republika Srpska, Ratko Mladic, at the live match in Giulesti, demanding his release, the feared war criminal was evoked again during a match between Romania and Bosnia.
The press from Sarajevo revealed that several Romanian fans, accompanied by the Serbian ones, would have displayed a banner praising the dreaded Mladic.
The position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after the scandal attributed to the Romanians
The newspaper requested a point of view from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this evening, and the answer came promptly. Even if they avoid, until the completion of an investigation, to blame the reprehensible scene on the displaced fans from Romania, the MAE officials firmly condemn such demonstrations.
“Former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladić was tried, found guilty and sentenced to life for direct involvement in war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
The glorification of war criminals is an act incompatible with a vision of society based on democracy, human rights and respect for fundamental values. Such manifestations are not in the spirit that animates sport and international sports competitions.
The world of football faces the problem of an absolute minority among supporters who use the pretext of matches to promote chauvinistic, racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, sexist, Islamophobic manifestations and ideologies. Such acts must not and cannot be ignored.
We deplore any manifestation of this type wherever it occurs. In relation to actions involving supporters in a stadium at a match under the auspices of UEFA the competence to investigate allegations and take necessary measures rests with the clubs, national and international federations and national authorities.
We have no doubt that these steps will be followed (by the FRF, etc.) UEFA having its own forums and rules”, stated the diplomat Andrei Țărnea, general director for Communication and Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, exclusively for GSP.ro.
The shameful message of Romanian Dynamo fans sent from Belgrade should not be a story that lasts an hour or two. The authorities must act and the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina must inform FIFA and UEFA of everything that happened.
However, no matter how much we tried to look at the match only from a sporting point of view, the fans of the Romanian national team forced us to give priority to another situation.
The Romanian hooligans passed through Belgrade a few hours before the match, visiting their friends, and there they photographed themselves with a banner on which a shameful message was written.
“Mladic, European hero, reduced the Muslims to zero”, reads the banner circulating on social networks.
It was expected that this photo would cause a lot of reactions. The shameful message and glorification of a person convicted of genocide and war crimes is reprehensible. Those who took pictures with that banner must be banned from entering Bosnia and Herzegovina.– position to the journalists from Sportsport.ba, before Bosnia – Romania
PHOTO GALLERY. Images from the stadium in Zenica, a few hours before the big match
Ranking from the Romania group
