War criminal Ratko Mladić buried in Serbia as EU condemns 'glorification'

Convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić was buried in Serbia on September 7, 2026, following a public memorial attended by thousands of people. The funeral drew condemnation from the European Union, which denounced the glorification of a man responsible for some of the worst atrocities committed in Europe since World War Two.

The funeral and public mourning

Mladić, widely known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," died at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in a UN detention facility in The Hague. Thousands of people took part in a public memorial in Belgrade, with Serbian government ministers including the Defence Minister and Minister of Justice attending. Men wearing Serbian flags and bearing images of Mladić gathered outside the church where he lay in state before burial.

EU condemnation

The European Union issued a strong statement condemning what it called the glorification of Mladić. "Ratko Mladić was a convicted war criminal who had committed war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity," the EU said. "Any glorification of war criminals, genocide denial and revisionism contradict the most fundamental European values and have no place in the EU or in EU candidate countries." The statement was significant given that Serbia has been an EU candidate country since 2012, though membership talks have recently stalled.

Mladić's crimes

Mladić commanded Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, overseeing a campaign of ethnic cleansing and the siege of Sarajevo that resulted in more than 10,000 deaths. He was found guilty of genocide by a UN war crimes tribunal for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which around 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed — described as Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two. Mladić was arrested in 2011, sixteen years after his initial indictment, and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2021.

Despite his conviction, Mladić remains a revered figure among many Serbs and Bosnian Serbs, who view him as a defender of the nation rather than a criminal.