Ratko Mladic burial set in Belgrade amid EU backlash

Ratko Mladic is scheduled to be buried in Belgrade on Monday, September 7, his son Darko Mladic said, as EU enlargement chief Marta Kos cancelled a planned visit to Serbia over what she called glorification surrounding the former Bosnian Serb military leader's death.

Mladic, 84, died last week after suffering several strokes while serving a life sentence in The Hague for war crimes committed during the 1990s war in Bosnia. His body was returned to Serbia on a government plane on Thursday, with his casket draped in flags and received with military honours.

The 1992-1995 Bosnian war left around 100,000 people dead and 2.2 million displaced. Mladic's wartime record included his role in the Srebrenica massacre, which a UN court ruled was genocide.

Darko Mladic said he was proud of his father's role and repeated the family's accusation that decisions not to release him and to refuse external medical treatment amounted to "murder". The Hague Tribunal had rejected multiple requests for his release on health grounds in recent months, indicating that his palliative care in detention was adequate.

Kos said on X that the glorification surrounding Mladic's death was incompatible with the values of Serbia's EU path. Vucic, who said he would not attend the funeral because of a prior engagement, called Kos' accusations "stupid" and said Mladic's family had decided the service arrangements.

Vucic earlier suggested that "tens of thousands" could attend the funeral. Serbian top officials have largely avoided commenting on Mladic's death, while pro-government figures and tabloid media have praised him. As his coffin was driven from the airport toward Belgrade, groups of mostly young men gathered on motorway overpasses with banners honouring Mladic and flares, and some uniformed police officers were seen saluting along the roadside.