The European Union reacted harshly to Serbia’s decision to give Ratko Mladić a hero’s funeral with government figures present and the funeral officiated by the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Mladić died while serving a life sentence for war crimes. He was a Bosnian Serb who was nicknamed “the Butcher of Bosnia”. He has been found guilty of committing genocide against Bosnian, the first in Europe since WWII. Despite this, many in Serbia consider him a hero. His funeral in Belgrade was well attended, with a Serbian army officer carrying his flag-draped coffin.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucić’s son, Danilo, attended the funeral, along with Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik, the Russian ambassador in Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, and Serbia’s Justice Minister Nenad Vujic, who stood next to Mladić’s family.
European authorities expressed their shock at the images arriving from Belgrade. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa released a joint social media post condemning the funeral, saying that “the elements of official support and the presence of some senior Serbian officials at the funeral are deeply regrettable.”
In the post, the two senior EU officials also said that the handling and reaction to Mladić’s death “demonstrate a failure to confront a dark chapter in Europe’s recent history and contradict the values underpinning Serbia’s path towards the European Union.”
The previous week, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said the funeral would be a test for Serbia. Pre-emptively, Kos cancelled an upcoming visit to Serbia. Von der Leyen has also yet to organise a visit, as she does yearly for all prospective new members.
The country is among several prospective candidates for EU membership. Still, in recent months its path to membership has been hampered by democratic tampering, not to mention the ongoing issue of Kosovo, whose independence Belgrade has yet to concede.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
