Serbia honours convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić with military funeral, complicating EU bid

Ratko Mladić was the former Bosnian Serb general convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. He was found guilty in 2017 of orchestrating the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity in Europe since the Second World War. Mladić died in prison on 27 August aged 84 while serving a life sentence. His government-arranged return to Serbia on a government plane the previous week had drawn condemnation from Bosnia and international observers.

On Monday, Serbia held a military funeral in Belgrade for Mladić. His coffin was draped in the Serbian flag and he received full military honours. Thousands attended to pay their respects, including Serbian opposition figures, officials from Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity, pro-Serbian politicians from Montenegro, and Russia's ambassador to Serbia. President Aleksandar Vučić did not attend the ceremony, which was led by Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church. However, Vučić had publicly backed what he called a "dignified funeral" and had previously argued for Mladić's early release from detention in The Hague so he could die on Serbian soil. Vučić's son Danilo was present at the ceremony.

The funeral has raised fresh concerns in Brussels regarding Serbia's stalled EU membership bid. The European Union has warned that state-sponsored honours for a convicted genocide perpetrator are incompatible with European values. Vučić announced on Monday that he will hold a snap election.