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The heads of the EU’s two main institutions have condemned the presence of senior Serbian officials at the funeral of the convicted war criminal, in a joint statement published simultaneously on X on Tuesday morning.
“The images from Ratko Mladić’s funeral yesterday in Belgrade were shocking. Ratko Mladić was a convicted war criminal. He was responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa wrote on X.
Ratko Mladić, known as the Butcher of Bosnia, died in late August aged 84 in a UN detention facility in The Hague. The Bosnian Serb had served in the Army of Republika Srpska with the rank of colonel-general during the Yugoslav Wars.
Following his death, his body was flown to Belgrade on a state plane, given an honour guard by the Serbian military and various security forces, and commemorated by the public broadcaster and the Serbian Orthodox Church. His coffin was wrapped in a Serbian flag.
On Friday, the glorification of the war criminal attracted the ire of senior EU officials, national ministers and diplomats, while Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos warned the funeral would be an “important test” for Serbia’s accession bid.
“He died while serving a life sentence for the Srebrenica genocide and other crimes. The elements of official support and the presence of some senior Serbian officials at the funeral are deeply regrettable,” the post continues.
On Monday, the Commission’s chief spokesperson, Paula Pinho, caused a public backlash after telling the daily press conference that “we had heard that there was a funeral foreseen with state honours, and that has not been the case.”
“Five ministers from the Serbian Government were seated in the front row at the funeral, a convicted war criminal was given military honours, and his body was flown in on a Serbian Government aircraft,” the official X account of the Foreign Ministry of Bosnia and Herzegovina wrote, calling Pinho’s statement “a disgrace to the entire European Union.”
Von der Leyen and Costa’s joint statement appears to cement the EU’s institutional condemnation of Mladić’s glorification, stressing that Serbia’s failure to confront a dark chapter of European history contradicts the values underpinning EU membership. It also marks a sharp escalation from warning to institutional condemnation.
In July, the Commission tried to revive Serbia’s accession bid by putting the opening of Cluster 3 back on the table. Eight member states blocked the move, citing rule-of-law concerns and Belgrade’s failure to align with EU sanctions against Russia.
“Everyone can see that, following this heinous glorification of Mladić, the opening of Cluster 3 is completely out of the question for now,” an EU diplomat told Euronews, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos cancelled her planned visit to Serbia, while a Commission spokesperson denied that von der Leyen had ever had a visit to Serbia planned at all.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić called for snap parliamentary elections to take place in late October.