Diplomacy & Geopolitics
Ratko Mladic burial honours criticised by EU
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos criticised Serbia’s plans to bury former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic with state honours, saying the “glorification of war criminals” had no place in countries seeking to join the European Union.
“Regarding Ratko Mladic, the glorification of war criminals is contrary to fundamental European values and has no place in the European Union or in countries that aspire to become members,” Kos told reporters on Monday at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia.
Mladic died on Thursday while serving a life sentence in The Hague for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic said Friday that Mladic “will receive all the military and state honours to which he is entitled”. He said Serbian officials were awaiting details on when authorities in The Hague would release the body.
Kos said she would travel to Serbia on September 9. “Ratko Mladic was a convicted war criminal, serving a life sentence for the genocide in Srebrenica and for crimes against humanity. And this will be the basis on which we will also assess developments,” she said.
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said Dutch authorities would not open a criminal investigation or conduct an autopsy after Mladic’s death. It said authorities had carried out procedures required by national law and decided Friday that no criminal investigation would be opened. The Mechanism said it had appointed judge Iain Bonomy to conduct a separate confidential investigation into Mladic’s death.
Mladic was convicted over crimes including the July 1995 massacre of approximately 8,000 Bosnian men and boys in the Srebrenica region. His conviction was confirmed on appeal in 2021.
The 1992-1995 Bosnian war left around 100,000 people dead and 2.2 million displaced.
Update
Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic said Mladic would receive all military and state honours to which he was entitled.
Serbian officials were awaiting details on when authorities in The Hague would release Mladic’s body.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said she would travel to Serbia on September 9.
Kos said Mladic’s conviction would be the basis for assessing developments.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 14:25:46 UTC.
Update
EU commissioner Marta Kos criticised Serbia's plans to bury Ratko Mladic with state honours.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 13:57:21 UTC.
Update
Kos said Serbia's “glorification” of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic had “no place” in the European Union.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 13:48:25 UTC.
Update
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said Dutch authorities would not open a criminal investigation into Mladic's death.
The Mechanism said Dutch authorities would not conduct an autopsy.
The Mechanism said it had appointed judge Iain Bonomy to conduct a separate investigation into Mladic's death, which was still ongoing and confidential.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 August 2026 at 21:25:54 UTC.
Update
Srebrenica survivors said Mladic's death changed little about his legacy and stressed the importance of his conviction.
AFP reported vigils and memorials for Mladic in parts of Serbia and Republika Srpska, including gatherings in Zvornik, Visegrad and Belgrade.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia had tried to have Mladic spend the end of his life in Serbia and would help with burial there if his family wished.
Serbia's justice minister Nenad Vujic said Mladic would receive military and state honours to which he was entitled.
Mladic had experienced several strokes in recent months before dying in hospital.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 August 2026 at 13:40:59 UTC.
Update
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed solidarity with Ratko Mladic's victims, survivors and their families after Mladic's death.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres stood with those who suffered the crimes for which Mladic was found guilty.
The item says Mladic died in hospital while serving a life sentence in The Hague.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 16:41:25 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The timing of the release of Mladic’s body from The Hague was not stated.
The Mechanism’s separate investigation into Mladic’s death is confidential.
Source
AFP news report published on .