Thousands attend ‘Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko Mladic's funeral as EU condemns Serbia

The funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, who is also known as “Butcher of Bosnia”, was attended by thousands of nationalists on Monday as Serbian ministers also turned up to pay their respects despite the Mladic’s horrific crimes.

The European Union (EU) slammed Serbia's attempt to glorify the convicted war criminal who was serving a life sentence at a UN prison in The Hague. He died at the age of 84.

Long queues formed outside St Luka church in the Serbian capital, where his coffin was kept before burial. Many of those attending were army veterans, while some men wore flags carrying Mladic's picture.

Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic and Justice Minister Nenad Vujic were among the government officials who attended, according to local media.

His funeral was led by Serbian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Porfirije, who said Mladic's name would remain “deeply etched” in the memory of many Serbian Orthodox people.

The scale of the funeral has caused controversy outside Serbia.

“Ratko Mladic was a convicted war criminal who had committed war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity,” the EU said.

The Union also warned that the country's glorification of war criminal and denial of genocide could effect its aspirations of joining the block. Serbia has been an EU candidate since 2012.

Mladic commanded Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.

He was convicted of genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where around 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed. His forces were also responsible for the years-long siege of Sarajevo, during which more than 10,000 people died.

He was arrested in 2011 after spending 16 years on the run and was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment.

Plans to give Mladi a state funeral were dropped following objections from European leaders.

His body, however, was flown back to Serbia on a government plane last week. Six soldiers carried the flag-draped coffin from the aircraft.

Free buses were also organised from towns across Serbia and Bosnia to bring mourners to Belgrade.

For families of Mladic's victims, the scenes were painful.

Zdravka Gvozdjar, whose nine-year-old son was killed during the siege of Sarajevo, told Reuters that Mladic should be remembered “only as a butcher,” not celebrated as a hero.