Ratko Mladić: Why Is a Convicted War Criminal Being Mourned as a Hero?
Maryam Tariq
Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade on Monday to pay their respects to Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb military commander who died last week at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
His death has triggered a deeply divisive response across the Balkans. While survivors and victims’ families remember Mladić as one of the central figures behind some of the worst atrocities of the Bosnian War, thousands of his supporters gathered to honor him as a Serbian hero.
So, who was Mladić, what did he do, and why does he remain such a revered figure among some Serbs more than three decades after the war?
Who was Ratko Mladić?
Mladić was the commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, the military force of the Bosnian Serbs during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War.
The war began after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia, amid the violent breakup of the country. Bosnian Serb forces, backed by Serbia and the Yugoslav military, sought to establish and maintain Serbian control over large parts of Bosnia.
Mladić became one of the most important military figures in that campaign.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ultimately found that he participated in a joint criminal enterprise whose objective included permanently removing Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from territories claimed by Bosnian Serbs.
What crimes was he convicted of?
Mladić was convicted in 2017 by the UN-backed tribunal in The Hague and sentenced to life imprisonment. His conviction was upheld on appeal in 2021.
His crimes included genocide, persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, forcible transfer, terror and unlawful attacks against civilians.
Two episodes are particularly central to his legacy: the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica genocide.
During the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo, Bosnian Serb forces surrounded the city and subjected civilians to sustained artillery and sniper attacks. Thousands of people were killed, including civilians targeted while going about their daily lives.
Then came Srebrenica.
In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces captured the UN-declared safe area of Srebrenica. More than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were subsequently killed. Their bodies were buried in mass graves, with some remains later moved in an attempt to conceal the scale of the killings.
International courts have established that the Srebrenica massacre constituted genocide.
Mladić was filmed in Srebrenica as his forces took control of the town. His presence and statements from the period became some of the most recognizable images of the massacre.
So why do people still celebrate him?
This is where the story becomes much more complicated.
Mladić is not universally viewed in Serbia as a war criminal.
Among some Serbian nationalists and Bosnian Serbs, he is remembered as a military commander who defended Serbs during a war they believe was fought for their survival.
For these supporters, the international prosecution of Mladić represents what they see as selective Western justice and an attempt to portray Serbs as uniquely responsible for the violence of the Yugoslav wars.
Some reject the genocide ruling entirely, while others acknowledge that atrocities occurred but dispute the international courts’ interpretation of Mladić’s role.
That has allowed two completely different versions of his legacy to exist side by side.
To survivors and many Bosniaks, Mladić represents the destruction of their communities and the murder of their relatives.
To his supporters, he represents Serbian military resistance and nationalism.
Who is mourning him?
The crowds in Belgrade have included Serbian nationalists, war veterans, supporters of Mladić and others who regard him as a national hero.
People travelled from across Serbia and Bosnia to attend the events surrounding his death and funeral. Organized buses were used to bring supporters to Belgrade, including buses from Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
His funeral also carried significant official symbolism.
His coffin was transported to Serbia on a government aircraft and was displayed with Serbian national symbols. Military personnel stood guard, while his military hat and sword were placed on his coffin.
The Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije led the funeral service.
These images have intensified criticism because they make the event look less like a private funeral and more like a public honoring of a national military figure.
Why is the EU angry?
The funeral has also created a diplomatic problem for Serbia.
Serbia has been negotiating membership in the European Union since 2014, but its accession process has stalled amid concerns including democratic standards, relations with Kosovo and its handling of the legacy of the Yugoslav wars.
EU officials have condemned the glorification of Mladić, arguing that honoring someone convicted of genocide and war crimes contradicts the values expected of EU candidate countries.
For Brussels, the issue is therefore not simply whether someone has the right to mourn a deceased relative or historical figure.
It is about whether a country seeking EU membership is willing to confront documented war crimes, acknowledge victims and reject the public glorification of convicted perpetrators.
Why does this still matter?
More than 30 years after the beginning of the Bosnian War, the conflict remains deeply embedded in the politics and identities of the region.
The war killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions. Its victims came from multiple ethnic communities, but the Srebrenica genocide remains one of the defining crimes of the conflict.
Mladić’s funeral demonstrates that the question of how those crimes are remembered has never been fully settled.
For his supporters, mourning him is an expression of Serbian identity and resistance.
For survivors, seeing a convicted perpetrator treated as a hero is a painful reminder that accountability in court does not necessarily translate into accountability in society.
And that is why a funeral in Belgrade has become an international story — not simply because Ratko Mladić died, but because of what his public celebration says about how the region continues to remember its past.
Sources:
Reuters | International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals | Associated Press
RFE/RL | Balkan Insight
