EU and Balkan allies condemn Serbia over state presence at Mladic funeral

Military honors in Belgrade

Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade on 7 September 2026 for the funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, who died on 27 August in UN detention at The Hague at age 84. Police reported that at least 8,000 people assembled outside the Church of Saint Luke the Apostle in Kosutnjak, where Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije led the religious service before the burial at Topcider cemetery. Uniformed Serbian soldiers mounted guard, carried the coffin, and fired three honor volleys at the gravesite following the transport of the body from The Hague on a Serbian government aircraft under the national flag. Although President Aleksandar Vucic did not attend the service, opting instead to receive the visiting president of Uzbekistan, his son Danilo Vucic was present. Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic, the defence minister, and at least one other cabinet member attended alongside Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko and former Republika Srpska president Milorad Dodik.

European Union condemnation

The high-level attendance and state logistical support triggered immediate criticism from European Union officials on 8 September, placing Serbia's accession candidacy under scrutiny. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa characterized the images from the funeral as shocking in shared public statements. European Union Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos cancelled a planned visit to Belgrade, while von der Leyen prepared to omit Serbia from an upcoming tour of the Western Balkans.

The elements of official support and the presence of some senior Serbian officials at the funeral are deeply regrettable. They 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.

Diplomatic expulsions and regional friction

Regional reactions escalated swiftly following the funeral ceremonies. Bosnian Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic announced on 8 September that Bosnia and Herzegovina had expelled two diplomats from the Serbian embassy in Sarajevo, stating that Belgrade had crossed all red lines. In London, the British Foreign Office summoned the Serbian ambassador to the United Kingdom, issuing a statement that any glorification of the war criminal undermines reconciliation and regional stability in the Western Balkans. Mladic had been sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide in Srebrenica, where over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in July 1995, as well as crimes against humanity during the four-year siege of Sarajevo.

Backlash from victim advocates

Representatives of victims of the Bosnian war condemned the European reaction as insufficient given the extent of Serbian state participation. Emir Suljagic, director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, noted that state institutions had provided full logistical coordination, military guards, and government flight transport for the convicted general. Suljagic argued that European leaders had avoided confronting the direct state involvement in commemorating a convicted perpetrator of genocide.

We are fed up with seeing people pay lip service to victims while continuing to shake hands with politicians who dream of future genocides.