EU condemns glorification of war criminal Ratko Mladic at burial

The European Union on Monday condemned any attempts to glorify the late Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic in Serbia, issuing a statement as thousands of mourners gathered in Belgrade for his funeral. The EU’s remarks, delivered through its diplomatic channels, warned that celebrating a figure convicted of war crimes would undermine regional reconciliation efforts and contravene European values.

Mladic, who died at age 77, had been sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to life imprisonment for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the 1995 siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre. His funeral, attended by a large crowd of supporters and senior Serbian officials, highlighted the lingering divisions over his legacy. While Serbian authorities described the ceremony as a private family matter, the EU’s criticism underscores ongoing diplomatic friction between Belgrade and Brussels over the interpretation of the 1990s conflicts and the broader push for accountability in the Western Balkans.