Story perspectives

EU Leaders Condemn Serbia for Mladic Funeral Attendance

9/10/2026

Center

Mladic Funeral

Ratko Mladic’s funeral was held in Belgrade on September 7, 2026, with military honors and thousands of mourners.
Bosnia and Herzegovina expelled two Serbian diplomats, reduced its Belgrade embassy to staff, and the UK summoned Serbia’s charge d’affaires, condemning the ceremony.
President Aleksandar Vucic missed the funeral, where son Danilo, Bratislav Gašic and Nenad Vujic attended.
EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa said Serbian attendance violated EU values.

Left

Mladic Funeral

Ratko Mladic’s funeral was held in Belgrade on September 7, 2026, with military honors and thousands of mourners.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos cancelled her Belgrade visit, saying the glorification of Mladic contradicts EU values.
Serbian civil-society groups protested while Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned the funeral for deepening victims’ suffering.
Belgrade city officials provided free transport, water tankers and public toilets for the thousands attending.

Blindspot

Bosnia and Herzegovina expelled two Serbian diplomats and cut its embassy staff in Belgrade to a minimum, with Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic saying the funeral’s glorification forced the move.
Within this story's sources, this diplomatic fallout appears mainly in Center-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Left-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

The 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, signed in Dayton, Ohio, ended the Bosnian War and mandated the arrest of war criminals like Ratko Mladic. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted Mladic in 2017, sentencing him to life imprisonment after 24 counts of genocide. Today's September 7, 2026 funeral in Belgrade mirrors the 1999 NATO bombing of the Serbian embassy in Belgrade, both provoking diplomatic expulsions and EU condemnations. These recurring glorifications risk stalling Serbia’s EU accession, as the European Commission repeatedly ties progress to reconciliation with Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo.

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Mladic Funeral

Ratko Mladic’s funeral was held in Belgrade on September 7, 2026, with military honors and thousands of mourners.
Bosnia and Herzegovina expelled two Serbian diplomats, reduced its Belgrade embassy to staff, and the UK summoned Serbia’s charge d’affaires, condemning the ceremony.
President Aleksandar Vucic missed the funeral, where son Danilo, Bratislav Gašic and Nenad Vujic attended.
EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa said Serbian attendance violated EU values.

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