Serbia is under increasing pressure from the European Union over how it is handling the funeral of Ratko Mladic, a war criminal convicted of genocide by a U.N. court. Mladic, who died last week in a hospital in The Hague, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 for his role in the Srebrenica massacre and other atrocities during the 1992-95 Bosnian War. The EU’s Enlargement Commissioner, Marta Kos, said the next few days would be a crucial test for Serbia, which is seeking to join the EU, as the country repatriated Mladic’s remains from The Hague to Serbia on a government plane. Mladic’s coffin was wrapped in the national flag and carried by Serbian soldiers to a military hospital in Belgrade upon arrival. Serbia’s Justice Minister Nenad Vujic was present on the plane with Mladic’s family, and nationalist supporters lit flares as the convoy passed. Mladic’s son, Darko Mladic, announced that his father will be buried on Monday, with a military ceremony planned for Saturday. The coffin will be placed in a church in Belgrade on Monday for people to pay their respects. Vujic had previously said Mladic would receive full state honors at the funeral, a decision that drew criticism from across the Balkans. The region remains deeply divided along ethnic lines, decades after the war in Bosnia, which claimed over 100,000 lives and displaced millions. Last year, Serbia gave full military honors to another convicted war criminal, Nebojsa Pavkovic, who was buried in a cemetery for distinguished individuals. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, warned that glorifying convicted war criminals is illegal in Bosnia and not protected under the European Convention on Human Rights. Belgium’s Foreign Minister, Maxime Prevot, called the decision to grant funeral honors to Mladic “shameful and disrespectful” to the victims of his crimes. Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic, a former nationalist, said he had spoken with Mladic’s family and wished for the funeral to proceed “in a dignified way.” Vucic also noted that the arrangements were decided by the Mladic family. Serbia’s EU membership has been delayed due to concerns over democratic backsliding and its refusal to support sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The Srebrenica massacre, recognized as Europe’s first genocide since World War II, involved the capture of a U.N.-protected safe zone for Bosniaks, resulting in the deaths of over 8,000 men and boys. Mladic was one of the most notorious figures of the war, which left over 100,000 people dead and displaced more than a million before ending in a U.S.-brokered peace deal in 1995. Mladic’s remains were repatriated on September 3, and his funeral is scheduled for September 7.