How the glorification of a war criminal caused an explosion in Serbia's relations with EU

On 7 September, war criminal Ratko Mladić was buried in Belgrade with state honours. The former Yugoslav general, who commanded the Army of Republika Srpska during the Balkan wars, died in prison.

Known as the "Butcher of Bosnia", he had been sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

In Serbia, the funeral was deliberately turned into a state event. Six ministers from the current Serbian government attended, as did Danilo Vučić, the son of the country’s president.

Read more about why Serbia took a step that led to a conflict with the EU in the article by Yuriy Panchenko and Volodymyr Tsybulnyk: The highest honour for the 'butcher general': how Serbia is halting its path to the EU for the sake of a war criminal. 

Paradoxical as it may sound, formally speaking, Serbia did not violate the rules of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia by honouring a convicted war criminal whose sentence had been handed down by that tribunal.

The court does not restrict how a farewell ceremony for a person may be conducted.

But what happened in Belgrade was more than just a funeral. In essence, the Serbian authorities staged a public demonstration that they do not recognise the ICTY’s verdict and openly challenged international justice.

Naturally, the EU could not tolerate such actions by a country seeking membership in the European community.

"Any glorification of war criminals, genocide denial and revisionism contradict the most fundamental European values and have no place in the EU or in EU candidate countries," said European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand.

It is currently known that Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos cancelled her visit to Serbia specifically because the glorification of war criminals is incompatible with the EU’s fundamental values.

The previously planned visit to Serbia by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen may also be cancelled.

The United States also condemned the events in Belgrade. Washington aligned itself with the EU’s position on the "unacceptability" of honouring a war criminal and condemned attempts to revise history through the glorification of Mladić.

The sharpest statements came from EU countries neighbouring Serbia.

Serbia will now find it much more difficult to continue on its European path–if that is even possible at all.

So why did the Serbian authorities, and President Vučić personally, deliberately choose such an escalation?

The answer lies in another event that took place on 7bSeptember. That same day, immediately after Mladić’s funeral, at an extraordinary government meeting, Serbian Prime Minister Đuro Macut asked President Aleksandar Vučić to dissolve parliament and call snap elections.

They are tentatively set to be held on 25 October and are particularly important for Vučić.

Serbia is entering this election campaign amid powerful anti-government protests that have been continuing for almost two years, as well as extremely low levels of public trust in the authorities.

That is why Vučić needed the cult of Mladić – to strengthen his ratings among the right-wing conservative electorate. At the same time, it could drive a wedge into the opposition, which includes both pro-European forces that condemn the glorification of a war criminal and radicals who could more accurately be described as Mladić’s ideological allies.

The price of this "electoral special operation" is increased tension in the Balkans and a sharp deterioration in Serbia’s relations with the EU. It could even mean the freezing of Serbia’s candidate status.

However, it appears that Aleksandar Vučić does not consider this price too high if it helps him remain in power.