Top European Union officials expressed dismay on Tuesday after Serbia held a grand funeral for Ratko Mladic, a Bosnian Serb general who passed away while serving a life sentence for war crimes, raising doubts about Serbia’s readiness to join the EU. Mladic was laid to rest in Belgrade on Monday with full military honors. The Serbian Orthodox Church’s Patriarch Porfirije conducted the funeral service, and Serbian army soldiers carried Mladic’s coffin draped in a flag to the cemetery. Various Serbian government ministers attended the service for the individual known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” who was convicted of perpetrating Europe’s first genocide post-World War II and remains a revered figure among many Serbs.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa expressed their concerns on social media about the official support and the attendance of senior Serbian officials at Mladic’s funeral, labeling it as deeply regrettable. They emphasized that the Serbian government’s actions demonstrated a failure to address a somber chapter in Europe’s recent history, conflicting with the values crucial to Serbia’s EU integration.
Serbia’s Justice Minister Nenad Vujic participated in the funeral alongside Mladic’s family, affirming that the authorities ensured order during the event to maintain its dignity, with the family overseeing the proceedings. Mladic was found guilty by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of genocide for his involvement in the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, where approximately 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed. Additionally, he was convicted for the 43-month siege of Sarajevo, resulting in around 10,000 fatalities.
British authorities condemned the engagement of Serbian state and military officials in Mladic’s funeral, highlighting that any glorification of a war criminal undermines reconciliation and regional stability in the Western Balkans. The EU is scheduled to release its annual enlargement report in the coming weeks, assessing the progress made by candidate countries like Serbia towards EU membership, with possible repercussions for Serbia’s accession bid following the controversial funeral.