The funeral of the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army Ratko Mladic took place in the Serbian capital Belgrade. Known by the nickname “The Butcher of the Balkans“ died on August 27 at the age of 84 in the UN prison in The Hague, where he was serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Since the early hours of the day, tens of thousands of Mladic supporters gathered in front of the church of "St. Luke" in the Belgrade neighborhood of "Vidikovac" to pay their last respects to the remains on display. The coffin of the former general was covered with the Serbian flag, and his officer's cap and saber were placed on it (source: Bulgarian Telegraph Agency - www.bta.bg). Free buses from various cities in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were also organized for the pilgrimage.
The funeral service was personally performed by the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfiry. Among the officials present at the ceremony were the Serbian Minister of Labor, Veterans and Social Affairs Milica Đurđević-Stamenkovski, Minister without Portfolio Nenad Popović, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs Milorad Dodik, the son of Serbian President Danilo Vučić, as well as the Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Aleksandar Botsan-Kharchenko (source: bTV Novinite - www.btvnovinite.bg). Head of State Aleksandar Vučić did not attend the event.
After the church service, a procession of thousands walked the 6-kilometer distance to Topčidersko cemetery. There, Ratko Mladić was buried with military honors next to the grave of his daughter Ana, who committed suicide in 1994.
The event caused a serious international scandal and sharp reactions from the European Union. The new European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, canceled her official visit to Serbia in protest against what Brussels described as “praising a convicted war criminal“ (source: Nova TV - www.nova.bg). The European External Action Service stressed that such actions are completely contrary to European values and endanger Serbia's path to EU membership (source: Bulgarian National Radio - www.bnrnews.bg).
Reactions in the region are also extremely polar. While pro-government media in Serbia broadcast the funeral live as a “majestic send-off”, in Sarajevo the event awakened deep and painful memories of the war in the 1990s. In protest against the military escort and state honors for Mladić, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković ordered the withdrawal of almost the entire staff of the Bosnian embassy in Belgrade (source: Reuters - www.reuters.com).