German MPs condemn Belgrade after Ratko Mladić funeral, AfD offers defence

German MPs in the Bundestag sharply criticised the events around Ratko Mladić's funeral in Belgrade on 9 September 2026, saying the ceremony and state involvement signal a dangerous tilt away from European norms — while the far-right AfD defended the Serbian authorities.

Anton Hofreiter, a Green MP and chair of the Bundestag committee on European affairs, said he had no doubt that what took place in Belgrade in recent days amounted to glorifying the deceased war criminal Ratko Mladić. He warned this must be condemned in the strongest terms because, he argued, "it shows how strongly Vučić's system is implementing historical revisionism."

Hofreiter also accused Belgrade of instrumentalising state resources for the funeral. "Transporting Mladić's body by a government-organised plane and the participation of members of the government at the commemoration reveal that the Serbian government is turning the person responsible for the genocide in Srebrenica, the convicted war criminal, into a national hero. The behaviour of the Serbian government is a clear message to Europe that the country under Vučić's leadership has drifted away from the European course. Whoever glorifies war criminals moves outside the European value order and has no place in the European Union," he said.

Calls for clearer consequences from Berlin and Brussels

Hofreiter criticised the German federal government — a coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats — for its restraint and lack of an explicit public rebuke of Belgrade. "Whoever is silent about war crimes inflicts serious damage on international law. From the federal government I expect it to make clear to the Serbian government that its conduct will not remain without consequences. Whoever celebrates war criminals cannot at the same time receive European funds," he declared.

Jasmina Hostert, an SPD MP and chair of the German–Southeast Europe parliamentary group, described the state funeral for "the butcher of Srebrenica" as wholly unacceptable and a sign that Serbia is far from confronting the crimes and from the EU. She voiced solidarity with Serbians who oppose the official narrative: "I regret that those who advocate for uncovering the truth and rapprochement with the EU in Serbia suffer the most because of this."

As an outlier, the AfD's Sasa Lenzing rejected broad condemnations of Serbia's entire stance toward international tribunals. "By doing so (the arrest and extradition of Mladić to the Hague Tribunal, ed.), Serbia ultimately fulfilled its international obligations to cooperate with the Tribunal and therefore I see no reason for today's debate to turn into a principled questioning of Serbia's relation to the decisions of the international tribunal," he said. Lenzing argued for sensitivity to different historical experiences and for a "reasonable and balanced reaction" from the German government that recognises victims' suffering while avoiding actions that would further inflame regional tensions.

Analyst Adi Ćerimagić criticised the European Commission for what he called misplaced expectations ahead of the burial: Brussels framed the absence of a formal state decision to hold a government funeral as a success of its influence, yet the ceremony showed clear state participation. Still, Ćerimagić said the episode is unlikely to change Berlin's or Brussels' approach to Serbia's EU pathway in practical terms — partly because progress has been stalled for years and Serbia has not opened any new negotiating clusters since 2021. He noted that member states have long blocked further steps for a variety of reasons, from Serbia's foreign policy alignment with Russia to rule-of-law concerns, and the burial may simply be added to that list of concerns.

Photo: press material from the event