Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade on Monday for the funeral of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander who died while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The large turnout and public displays of support have reopened some of the deepest political and historical divisions left by the wars that tore apart the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Mladic, who died at the age of 84 in a prison hospital in The Hague, was convicted by the United Nations tribunal for his role in atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. His crimes included responsibility for the Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed, as well as the prolonged siege and bombardment of Sarajevo. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017, a conviction that was upheld on appeal.
Despite that judicial record, Mladic continues to be regarded as a hero by a segment of Serbia’s population. Supporters gathered around the Church of St. Luke in Belgrade, where his coffin was displayed before the burial, carrying Serbian flags and images of the former general. War veterans also stood guard over the coffin, while mourners paid tribute to him as a military figure rather than acknowledging the international court’s findings.
The funeral took place with military honors and the participation of senior Serbian figures, creating an especially sensitive diplomatic issue for the government of President Aleksandar Vucic. Vucic has not formally endorsed Mladic’s legacy, but the presence of officials and politically connected figures at the ceremony has fueled criticism that Serbia is allowing the glorification of a convicted war criminal.
The European Union reacted sharply. EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos canceled a planned visit to Serbia, while European officials said the public honoring of Mladic conflicts with the values expected of a country seeking EU membership. The controversy comes at a difficult moment for Serbia’s accession process, which has already been slowed by political disputes, concerns over democratic standards and Belgrade’s balancing act between Brussels and Moscow.
The ceremony has also caused anger among victims’ families and communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For survivors and relatives of those killed at Srebrenica and during the siege of Sarajevo, the public celebration of Mladic represents not simply a historical disagreement but an attempt to erase or minimize the crimes for which he was convicted. Victims’ organizations have condemned the funeral and urged European governments to respond more forcefully.
Mladic’s return to Serbia had already become politically contentious before the funeral. His body was flown from the Netherlands to Belgrade on a Serbian government aircraft after his death, a decision that drew criticism from European officials. Authorities then arranged for his body to lie in state before the burial, allowing supporters to gather publicly and pay tribute.
The controversy is unfolding alongside significant political uncertainty inside Serbia. The government is expected to propose dissolving parliament and holding an early election, potentially as soon as October, after nearly two years of student-led protests and growing opposition pressure. The timing means the Mladic funeral has inevitably become part of a wider political debate over Serbian nationalism, the country’s relationship with Europe and the government’s approach to its wartime past.
The episode also illustrates how unresolved memories of the Yugoslav wars continue to shape contemporary Balkan politics. Serbia has sought closer ties with the European Union while maintaining strong relationships with Russia and preserving a political culture in which some wartime figures remain symbols of national resistance. Mladic’s funeral exposed the tension between those competing identities in unusually visible fashion.
For Brussels, the ceremony raises questions about Serbia’s readiness to embrace the historical and political standards associated with EU membership. For many in Serbia, however, Mladic remains a figure associated with the country’s wartime struggle and national identity. The thousands who attended his funeral demonstrated that, more than three decades after the Bosnian war began, the region’s competing interpretations of its past remain politically powerful—and deeply divisive.
