The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office summoned the Serbian Chargé d'Affaires on 8 September 2026 to condemn the involvement of Serbian state and military officials in the funeral of Ratko Mladić, the office said in a press release that day. The UK's Special Envoy to the Western Balkans, Dame Karen Pierce, carried out the summons.

Minister for Europe Lord Wood of Anfield said Mladić, as a military commander, presided over crimes among the worst committed in Europe since the Second World War and was convicted by an independent UN tribunal of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. He said denial and whitewashing of those crimes affronts international law and undermines regional stability and trust, and that Serbia is obliged to respect the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, established by the UN Security Council.

Lord Wood said the UK government's thoughts are with Mladić's victims and their families. He said glorification of a convicted war criminal undermines trust and fuels division, and is incompatible with reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region. The UK, he said, remains committed to international justice, accountability and lasting reconciliation across the Western Balkans.