Thousands turn out in Serbia for funeral of 'Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko Mladić
Thousands gathered in Belgrade for the funeral of Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb military leader convicted of genocide. The event drew criticism from the European Union, which condemned the glorification of a war criminal.
Why it matters
The event highlights ongoing tensions regarding historical accountability and nationalism in the Balkans, impacting Serbia's path toward EU integration.
Image source, Getty imges Image caption, A priest blesses the coffin of the late Bosnian Serb military leader
Thousands of people have turned out in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, to attend the funeral of the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.
Widely known as the Butcher of Bosnia, Mladić died at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in the UN prison in The Hague, the Netherlands.
He was found guilty of genocide by a UN war crimes tribunal for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, when around 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed. It was described as Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.
A Serbian government minister had initially said that Mladić would be given a state funeral but those plans were changed after objections from some European leaders. On Monday, the EU denounced Mladić's "glorification".
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