Serbia has been accused of the “glorification” of former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, who was convicted of genocide by a UN court, by giving him an elaborate military funeral in Belgrade.
Mladic, who was known at the ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ for orchestrating the brutal massacre of at least 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, died last month aged 84 after suffering several strokes in a UN prison in The Hague.
The military officer led the army of the self-proclaimed secessionist republic Republika Srpska (VRS), which carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. In 2017, Mladic was sentenced to life imprisonment for the Srebrenica massacre, along with several other war crimes including the several-year siege of Sarajevo during the 1992-95 conflict.
The European Union’s Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has now cancelled a visit to the country and accused the nation of glorifying Mladic, after his remains were flown to Belgrade on a government plane, before his coffin was wrapped in a Serbian national flag and carried by soldiers to a van.
“The glorification surrounding his death is incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built,” Ms Kos said in a post on X. “That path requires confronting the past, genuine reconciliation and respecting the victims of war crimes.”
Mladic’s body lay in state in Belgrade on Monday, as the country ignored warnings by the EU not to allow the public glorification of a man who was convicted in Europe’s first genocide case since World War Two.
Mourners arrived early at the small Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Luke in Belgrade to honour Mladic, whose military officer’s cap and sabre rested on the coffin, the Associated Press reported.
Ms Kos added on X: “The values that underpin our common future are not negotiable. In this context, I have decided not to proceed with my planned visit to Serbia at this time.” Belgrade is currently seeking EU membership.
Serbia’s Justice Minister Nenad Vujić said shortly after his death that the Bosnian-Serb would be buried with the “highest military and state honours”.
Mladic is still lauded by some in Serbia, with pro-government media and nationalist groups depicting him as a national hero after his death.
Belgrade refuses to acknowledge its role in the Balkan wars and officially refuses to acknowledge Srebrenica as genocide.
“Ratko Mladic was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The return of his remains to Belgrade reminds Europe of the darkest pages in our recent history,” Ms Kos wrote.
