European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa have condemned the funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić in Belgrade, calling images from the ceremony “shocking” and warning that the event conflicts with the values underpinning Serbia’s path toward European Union membership.
“The images from Ratko Mladić's funeral yesterday in Belgrade were shocking. Ratko Mladić was a convicted war criminal. He was responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity,” the two EU leaders said in a joint statement published on X.
They particularly criticized what they described as official support for the ceremony and the presence of senior Serbian representatives. “The elements of official support and the presence of some senior Serbian officials at the funeral are deeply regrettable,” they wrote, saying the episode demonstrated a failure to confront what they called a dark chapter in recent European history.
Mladić, known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” died in late August at the age of 84 while in custody at a UN detention facility in The Hague. The former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska was serving a life sentence after being convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the Srebrenica genocide.
