Thousands gather for funeral of convicted Bosnian war criminal Mladić

The funeral of Mladić, 82, drew large crowds in his native Serbia, reflecting deep divisions that persist in the region more than three decades after the Bosnian war ended. Mladić was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 for his role in orchestrating some of the conflict's deadliest atrocities, including the massacre at Srebrenica that claimed thousands of Muslim Bosniak lives.

The European Union had cautioned Serbian authorities ahead of the ceremony, expressing concern about potential attempts to lionize Mladić and rehabilitate his image among certain segments of the Serbian population. Rights groups and regional governments have long warned that such commemorations risk perpetuating nationalist sentiments that fueled the wars of Yugoslav succession.

Mladić died last month while imprisoned in The Hague, where he was serving his sentence at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. His conviction marked one of the tribunal's most significant judgments, establishing accountability for crimes committed during the brutal conflict that fractured the Balkans.

The funeral underscored persistent tensions in post-war Serbia and the broader region, where differing historical narratives and memorialization practices continue to inflame relationships between communities affected by the conflict. Reconciliation efforts have struggled against competing visions of the war's legacy and responsibility for its horrors.