The remains of Ratko Mladic arrived in Belgrade on Thursday aboard a Serbian government aircraft following his death the previous week. Mladic, who was 84 at the time of his death, had been serving a life sentence at a UN detention facility. His casket, covered with the Serbian national flag, was transported from The Hague in the Netherlands, where the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had been based before concluding its operations.
Mladic was convicted in 2017 on charges including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes stemming from actions during the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic received the coffin at Belgrade airport, accompanied by Mladic’s son Darko. Officials indicated that military commemorative services and a funeral ceremony would take place in the coming days, with projections suggesting tens of thousands of attendees.
The return prompted significant public response within Serbia, where many citizens regard Mladic as a historical figure deserving of respect. Demonstrations and vigils in his honour drew attention across the region, which remains ethnically divided decades after the wars accompanying Yugoslavia’s dissolution. The International Criminal Tribunal issued a statement affirming its support for victims and survivors while expressing concern about actions that glorify those convicted by international courts.
The situation reflects ongoing tensions regarding accountability for the Bosnian conflict, which resulted in over 100,000 deaths and displaced more than 1 million people before concluding in 1995. Mladic played a central role in military operations during the war, including actions in the Srebrenica enclave that constituted Europe’s first recognized genocide following World War II. Serbia maintains that Western institutions and the tribunal disproportionately assigned responsibility to Serbs while failing to address crimes against Serbian populations.
The circumstances surrounding Mladic’s return have drawn scrutiny from the European Union, with officials warning that glorification of war criminals contradicts standards expected of EU member states and candidate nations. Serbia continues pursuing EU membership while maintaining positions regarding its historical role in the conflict.
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