EU sharply criticizes memorial service for war criminal Mladic in Serbia

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President António Costa have sharply criticized the funeral service for convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic in Serbia. The images of the funeral in Belgrade were “shocking,” they said. In particular, the official support and participation of high-ranking Serbian officials were “deeply regrettable.”

This contradicts the values ​​on which Serbia's path to the European Union is based, explained von der Leyen and Costa. Serbia has been a candidate for EU membership since 2012. The negotiations have made little progress for years.

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said: "Any glorification of war crimes, denial of genocide and revisionism contradict the most fundamental European values ​​and have no place in the EU or in EU candidate countries," his statement said.

Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity

Thousands of people attended Mladic's funeral on Monday. The former Bosnian Serb army chief died in The Hague at the end of August. There he was serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Mladic was convicted, among other things, for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Bosnian Serb troops murdered more than 8,000 people there, mostly Muslim men and boys. Despite his conviction, Mladic is still revered as a hero by Serbian nationalists.