Thousands of mourners gathered in Belgrade on Monday for the funeral of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military commander convicted of genocide, as Serbia proceeded with the service despite warnings from the European Union against allowing public homage to a man responsible for Europe's first genocide conviction since World War II.
A Funeral Steeped In Controversy
Mladic, who died in late August at age 84 while serving a life sentence at a UN detention unit in The Hague, was still viewed as a hero by many Serbs who see him as having defended their people during the 1990s Bosnian war. Mourners lined up from early morning at the small Church of St. Luke in Belgrade, many kissing his closed coffin as Serbian Orthodox priests read prayers, while his military cap and saber rested on top.
Military Honors And Political Absence
Patriarch Porfirije, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, led the funeral service, describing Mladic as having carried a great responsibility and made a sacrifice for the freedom of his people, while members of the Serbian Armed Forces carried his coffin toward Topcider Cemetery for burial. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic avoided the funeral, citing a scheduled visit from Uzbekistan's president, a decision critics in neighboring Bosnia called cowardly given what they described as his role in organizing the event.
Brussels Pushes Back
The European Union had earlier warned that any glorification of Mladic would be incompatible with the values underpinning Serbia's EU membership path, and officials in Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation said they were preparing formal letters of protest to the US, EU and UK. Bosnian politician Elmedin Konakovic said his government would reduce contact with Serbia and withdraw personnel from its embassy in Belgrade in response to the funeral.
A Divided Region
The scale of Monday's turnout, with security officials estimating tens of thousands could attend, highlighted how deeply Mladic's legacy still divides the former Yugoslavia three decades after the war, even as it complicates Serbia's efforts to maintain its path toward European Union membership.