Ratko Mladić’s Funeral: Aleksandar Vučić Challenges Europe Weeks Before Serbia’s Election

Serbia has given military honours to Ratko Mladić, the convicted war criminal whose coffin was displayed in central Belgrade ahead of his burial on Monday. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from European officials and places President Aleksandar Vučić at odds with Europe just weeks before Serbia’s elections.

Mladić’s body arrived in Belgrade on Thursday aboard a plane chartered by the Serbian government. On Saturday afternoon, it was placed on display at the House of the Army, a large building in the capital’s centre.

War veterans, former comrades-in-arms and nationalists wearing T-shirts bearing the image of their “hero” came to the building. Yet the gathering appeared less crowded than the attention surrounding it might suggest, with journalists likely outnumbering the dead commander’s admirers.

Members of Mladić’s family were present inside, alongside officials including Siniša Karan and Željko Budimir, the president and interior minister respectively of Republika Srpska, the Serb entity within a still-divided Bosnia and Herzegovina.

European officials have denounced Serbia’s decision to honour Mladić. EU Commissioner Marta Kos cancelled a visit to Belgrade planned for Sept. 10. The funeral and the official treatment of Mladić’s remains have therefore become a new point of confrontation between Serbia and European institutions, with the timing adding political weight ahead of the Serbian vote.