Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade on Monday (September) for the funeral of the former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, who died last week while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“He is a hero,” Djordje, a 34-year-old man who came from Prijepolje to pay respects to Mladic, said. “He was a great military strategist.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who dismissed Kos’ statement last week, did not attend the funeral. However, his son Danilo attended, along with Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic and Justice Minister Nenad Vujic.
Last week, EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos postponed her visit to Serbia, which is a candidate country to join the bloc, because of what she said was the “glorification” of Mladic after his death, including the use of a government plane to return him to Serbia. “The Western Balkan armed conflicts of the 1990s were among Europe’s darkest moments in its recent history,” an EU spokesperson said in a statement on Monday (September 7). Bosnia’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic said the country will withdraw all staff from its embassy in Belgrade except for the ambassador and consul in protest at Serbia’s handling of the funeral, including the military escort of the body and the attendance of government officials. “It is really horrible that this is taking place there [in Belgrade] because I know there are normal people who are against it,” said Zdravka Gvozdjar, a retired pharmacist whose 9-year-old son was killed during the Sarajevo siege by a grenade fired by the Mladic-led forces, one among more than 1,000 children killed in the city. “Mladic … only deserved to be erased from memory for good, not to be … promoted as a hero,” she said. “He should be remembered only as a butcher.”
