Belgrade has made a point of insisting that it did not organize a state funeral for former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, who was convicted of genocide in Srebrenica and crimes against humanity in 2017. But when the body of a war criminal is flown home accompanied by the country's justice minister, when ceremonies unfold with military honors in state-controlled venues in the presence of senior political leaders and when clear condemnation of glorification of the deceased is absent, the message is unambiguous. The impact of this message is being felt beyond Serbia's borders.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina — the state created by the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which comprises two entities linked by a weak central government — reactions were as deeply divided as the country itself. Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity covering about 49% of the country's territory, sent its officials to the funeral. Public discourse there was dominated by narratives of "defending the people" and "the injustice of international courts." "Without Ratko Mladic, there would be no Republika Srpska," was the refrain among thousands of mourners at the funeral in Belgrade.
Sarajevo, the seat of the central government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, sees this approach as a continued policy of relativizing war crimes and a threat to stability. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the entity where Bosniaks and Croats form the majority, the response was very different and the tone sharp. Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic described Serbia's official response as a conscious choice by Belgrade, not something imposed on it.
He announced measures to cool diplomatic ties with Serbia, withdrawing almost all staff from the country's embassy in Belgrade, leaving only the ambassador, explaining that he lacks the authority to close the embassy but can reduce its presence to a minimum. The move effectively froze day-to-day diplomatic communication on the ground. "We will pull out everyone we can; consular services will be relocated to Zagreb and Podgorica," he said.
Denis Becirovic, chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, called the funeral with military honors an "anti-civilizational act" and warned of far-reaching consequences for the entire region. For representatives of Mladic's victims, any public glorification of the former general is a direct insult to the families of those killed. Mladic's death and funeral are not just about the past.
At a time when both Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are facing general elections — Bosnia on October 4 and Serbia likely just a few weeks later — emotions become a resource. In both countries, parts of the electorate still see Mladic as a symbol of resistance, which means that every gesture in support of him scores political points with these voters. As the general election in Bosnia and Herzegovina approaches, sharp condemnations from Sarajevo are seen as evidence that the central government is "defending the state" and "the dignity of victims." This, too, is being turned into political capital.
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