European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa strongly condemned the funeral ceremony for Ratko Mladić in Belgrade. They described the images of the “Butcher of the Balkans” being escorted with military honors as shocking.
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In a statement published today on the X platform, the two leaders of the EU institutions expressed their “shock” at the glorification of Mladić and criticized the participation of senior Serbian officials in his funeral. According to them, Mladić was a convicted war criminal responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Von der Leyen and Costa also indicated that such a stance by Serbia damages its prospects for membership in the European Union.
The body of the 84-year-old, who died in The Hague while serving a life sentence, was taken to Belgrade on a state aircraft. In the Serbian capital, he was honored by a military guard, members of the army and various security forces, state television and the Serbian Orthodox Church. The coffin was covered with the Serbian flag.
A day earlier, the European Commission’s chief spokesperson, Paula Pinho, faced a backlash following her statement at the daily press conference, where she said that the EU had heard about a funeral with state honors but that no such ceremony had taken place. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s foreign minister described the statement as a disgrace for the entire EU, emphasizing that five Serbian government ministers had been seated in the front row, a convicted war criminal had been given military honors, and his body had been transported on a Serbian government aircraft.
The joint reaction of Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa reinforces the EU’s institutional condemnation of the glorification of Mladić. According to this position, Serbia’s refusal to confront one of the darkest chapters in European history runs counter to the fundamental values of EU membership. Earlier, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos canceled her planned visit to Serbia.
Meanwhile, Aleksandar Vučić has called for snap parliamentary elections to be held at the end of October. The Serbian government has proposed that he dissolve Parliament and organize the elections, which, if approved, must be announced within 72 hours. According to foreign media reports, Vučić is preparing a political reshuffle to move from the presidency to the post of prime minister.
