The reactions to Ratko Mladi\u0107\u2019s death reflect the deep polarization of Serbian society. The divide, however, is not only between those who consider him innocent or guilty, but between supporters of the government and the movement born out of last year\u2019s student protests, in the run-up to early elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
On Monday 7 September, large crowds gathered in Belgrade to pay their respects before the coffin or Ratko Mladi\u0107. Mladi\u0107, former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, convicted to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina died in detention on August 27<\/a>. He was arrested in 2011 in Serbia after 16 years on the run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Serbia, parliamentary elections will be held shortly: President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 just announced they would take place on 25 October. The elections come almost two years after the collapse of the canopy at Novi Sad railway station, that triggered the massive protests of 2025, led by the student movement. The students\u2019 protests crystallized into a call for early elections. The upcoming elections are dividing the country and increasingly resemble a referendum on the record of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and President Vu\u010di\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Almost every event in Serbia is being interpreted in light of the electoral contest, including Mladi\u0107\u2019s death. Just a few days before, Serbia had asked<\/a> the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals<\/a> to allow Mladi\u0107 to return to Serbia so he could spend his final days with his family, offering a state flight, announcing that Mladi\u0107 would be treated at the Military Medical Academy, and pledging to comply with all the Mechanism\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such requests, when convicted persons have shown genuine remorse, which was not the case with Mladi\u0107, have sometimes been granted, mainly on humanitarian grounds. In this case, however, the request was refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the day of Mladi\u0107\u2019s death, few official voices were heard. Belgrade\u2019s mayor, Aleksandar \u0160api\u0107, of the SNS, wished him \u201ceternal glory\u201d and thanked Mladi\u0107 in a tweet. Former Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, known for his closeness to the Kremlin, pointed out<\/a> that, like Gavrilo Princip<\/a>, Serbia\u2019s best sons are always killed while in prison, adding that Serbia should grant Mladi\u0107 the honours of a state funeral. Vojislav \u0160e\u0161elj too \u2014 a war criminal convicted of crimes against humanity and released after serving his sentence \u2014 revived the theory that Mladi\u0107 had been killed in prison because he had been denied the necessary medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If such statements were in some sense to be expected, the news that truly caused a stir was an interview given by Serbian Minister of Justice Nenad Vuji\u0107\u2019s<\/a>, to the local Serb-Bosnian broadcaster ATV the day after the death. Vuji\u0107 said that Mladi\u0107 would be buried with the highest state honours, though the final decision would in any case rest with the family. The statement caused deep shock and was quickly picked up by the foreign press, since it made unmistakably clear what Serbia\u2019s official position was regarding the crimes committed in the Bosnian war, and in particular the Srebrenica genocide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That evening, President Vu\u010di\u0107<\/a> partially backtracked: while criticizing the Residual Mechanism, saying \u201cthere was a wish that Mladi\u0107 die behind bars,\u201d he also specified that the funeral arrangements would depend solely on the family\u2019s wishes, and appealed for an end to the speculation. That same evening, the European Commission, in an interview with Radio Free Europe<\/a> stated that while it is for the Serbian authorities to decide what role they will play in Mladi\u0107\u2019s funeral, the glorification of war criminals runs counter to the fundamental values of the European Union, and that there is no room for such glorification among candidate countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the ruling party remained silent, as often, it was the pro-government tabloids that used the most inflammatory rhetoric, reviving the theory that Mladi\u0107 had been murdered. The tabloid Informer, through its editor-in-chief<\/a>, wrote that \u201cthe real news is not that Ratko Mladi\u0107 has died, but that he was killed by the Hague tribunal. This is a terrorist organization, whose purpose is to condemn Serbs for genocide, and it has now killed the general.\u201d If Informer was the most explicit, other pro-government media took similar positions<\/a>, albeit in a somewhat more moderate tone. The tabloids, as well as state television, have routinely presented<\/a> Mladi\u0107 as a Serbian general, without any reference to his conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Serbia\u2019s media landscape, such positions have by now become a fixed reality. The tabloids also seized the opportunity to try to discredit the student movement, reporting claims that the \u201cblokaderi<\/em>\u201d \u2014 as last year\u2019s protest sympathizers are called \u2014 had celebrated Mladi\u0107\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\t Some opposition parties did take a stance, however. The Zeleno Levi Front<\/em> (Green-Left Front) and the Pokret Slobodnih Gradjana<\/em> (Movement of Free Citizens) were the most explicit, specifically mentioning the crimes committed by Mladi\u0107, including the Srebrenica \u201cgenocide\u201d \u2014 a word that remains taboo for many in Serbia. Also condemnatory, though in more measured terms, were the positions of the Stranka za Slobode i Pravde<\/em> (Party of Freedom and Justice) and of the Demokratska Stranka<\/em> (Democratic Party), which stressed that Mladi\u0107 should not serve as a model for future generations, and that in any case the death of an individual does not change the facts established by an international tribunal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The non-governmental organizations that most closely follow war-crimes issues, such as the Fond za Humanitarno Pravo<\/em> (Humanitarian Law Center), pointed out<\/a> that in recent years Serbia has not only failed to distance itself from the crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but has pursued a policy aimed at celebrating and defending those crimes. Unequivocal condemnation also came from the Evropski Pokret Srbija<\/em> (European Movement in Serbia), which condemned<\/a> outright the idea of state funeral honours. The \u017dene u crnom<\/em> (Women in Black) movement took a similar position, stating<\/a> that a funeral with state honours amounts to a form of endorsement of the crimes committed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The student movement did not issue an official statement. Some of its representatives commented<\/a> on social media that \u201ca war criminal, guilty of genocide, has died,\u201d a remark that was enough to trigger blame from the tabloids. Similarly, criticism of the government\u2019s conduct came from the citizens\u2019 assembly<\/a> of Novi Pazar, a town with a Bosniak majority, which said it was unacceptable to glorify a war criminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the funeral, public demonstrations, however, have been notably absent. With the exception of Red Star supporters, who held a torchlit gathering on Brankov Most<\/a> the same evening, unfurling a large banner at the Belgrade stadium, and some similar episodes in Novi Sad<\/a>, people did not take to the streets for Mladi\u0107; there were no shows of support comparable to those seen in Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nor did posters in support of the general appear, as they regularly do every 11 July to mark the Srebrenica genocide anniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this sense, the only public \u201cappearance\u201d of Mladi\u0107\u2019s supporters took place in U\u017eice on Saturday, 29 August. A rally of the SNS was scheduled for that day, attended by President Vu\u010di\u0107 himself. Before the rally the centre of U\u017eice had been closed off for the event, and the trouble began when SNS security tried to clear out<\/a> the caf\u00e9s to make way for the meeting. In one of the videos, a group of people can be seen chasing and beating<\/a> a man violently. Police intervened and put an end to the incident. Among the attackers, two people can be seen wearing the same jacket, evidently issued to SNS supporters: on the back of the jacket, a photograph of Mladi\u0107 is clearly visible, linking once again violence and politics to his figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually the format of the funeral became clear: although the government refrained from organising a state funeral, President Vu\u010di\u0107 stated that Serbia was ready to provide \u201clogistical, transport and other support\u201d and there were going to be military honours but no State honours. The EU Commissioner for enlargement Marta Kos wrote on X<\/a> that the glorification of war criminals is \u201cincompatible with the values the EU was built upon\u201d and decided to cancel her visit to Belgrade<\/a>. Vu\u010di\u0107 reply was that her \u201cexplanation was very short, but stupid, as usual<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Mladi\u0107 body was flown back on a state airplane, six soldiers carried the flag draped casket<\/a> from the plane to the vehicle: during the transport back to Belgrade, police and military officers stopped and saluted the motorcade<\/a>, while people gathered on the bridges with banners of support. On Saturday 5 September, a commemoration was held at the Army house in central Belgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The funeral itself took place on Monday and Mladi\u0107 was buried in his family grave, next to his daughter Ana. A salvo was fired by a military guard. President Vu\u010di\u0107 didn\u2019t attend it, officially due to a visit of the President of Uzbekistan, however the funeral was attended by his son Danilo, the state ministries of Justice and Defence, and the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church. A large delegation came from the Republika Srpska, including its President and Prime Minister. Busloads of veterans came from Bosnia and Herzegovina and attended the event as well as thousands private individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is estimated that 16,000 people<\/a> attended it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the funeral didn\u2019t fulfil the definition of a state funeral, the engagement and profile of the Serbian authorities suggested exactly the contrary and provoked nearly unanimous condemnation in Western Europe. After some hesitation, strong criticism came from the highest EU officials, Antionio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, who published identical statements<\/a> and called the presence of state officials at the funeral as \u201cdeeply regrettable\u201d and deplored \u201cSerbia\u2019s failure to confront a dark chapter of Europe\u2019s recent history\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe issue of official honours raised straight away<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mladic was \u201ckilled by the Hague tribunal\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGenocide\u201d, a word that remains taboo in Serbia<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
People did not take the streets for Mladic<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Military honours, but no State honours<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSerbia\u2019s failure to confront a dark chapter of Europe\u2019s history\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n