EU condemns Serbia’s ministers for attending funeral of war criminal Mladic

What the report says

European Union leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa have criticized the attendance of senior Serbian officials at the funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, saying the images from the event were shocking and incompatible with Serbia’s stated path toward EU membership. Their comments, published on X on Sept. 8, came after a Sept. 7 funeral procession in Belgrade that drew state and military honors and a large crowd of mourners.

According to Al Jazeera’s report, Serbia’s defense and justice ministers, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and representatives of Bosnia’s Serb-majority entity Republika Srpska were among those present. Russia’s ambassador to Serbia also attended. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic did not go to the funeral, but he described it as an emotional outpouring. Serbia’s justice minister had initially announced official honors for Mladic before the event was scaled back following international criticism.

Mladic died in The Hague at age 84 while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Bosnian War. He is widely associated with the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, which a UN court ruled was genocide. Bosnia responded to the funeral by downgrading diplomatic relations and recalling most of its embassy staff from Belgrade.

The episode adds pressure to Serbia’s EU accession bid at a time when Brussels is preparing its annual review of candidate countries. It also highlights continuing tensions over how the Balkans confront wartime crimes and public memory.