Late General Ratko Mladic's death highlights deep divisions over his legacy

In Banja Luka, within the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a small memorial featuring a photograph and floral wreaths appeared for General Ratko Mladic following his death at the age of 84. He was serving a life sentence imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). While the international community condemned him, many local residents regarded Mladic as a hero and a defender of Serb rights during the wars of the 1990s.

This reaction was mirrored when thousands gathered outside a Serbian Orthodox church in Belgrade ahead of his funeral, carrying Serbian flags and photographs of the former military leader. Legally, the ICTY convicted Mladic in 2017 of genocide regarding the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, alongside crimes against humanity and war crimes, with his life sentence upheld on appeal in 2021.

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik stated that the West and Muslims had turned Mladic into an icon for Serbs, expressing concern that such nationalism had taken root among youth born after the conflict. Many residents did not deny that crimes occurred during the war but voiced grievances over what they viewed as unequal treatment of different sides.

The response surrounding Mladic's funeral also drew tension with Europe, prompting EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos to cancel a planned visit to Serbia as the glorification of convicted war criminals conflicted with reconciliation principles. Although legal judgments were delivered long ago, the scenes in Banja Luka and Belgrade demonstrate a persistent gap between judicial verdicts and collective memory.