EU official cancels Serbia visit over Mladić funeral honors

The European Union’s enlargement commissioner canceled a planned visit to Serbia on Friday, saying the public honors surrounding the return of Ratko Mladić’s body to Belgrade clash with the values expected of a country seeking EU membership.

Marta Kos said on X that “the glorification surrounding his death is incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built.” She added: “Ratko Mladić was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The return of his remains to Belgrade reminds Europe of the darkest pages in our recent history.”

Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb army commander known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” died at age 84 on Aug. 27 while serving a life sentence in The Hague. A U.N. court convicted him in 2017 of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the yearslong siege of Sarajevo and other crimes during the 1992-95 Bosnian War.

His remains were flown from The Hague to Belgrade on Thursday on a Serbian government plane, accompanied by family members and Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic. Upon arrival, his coffin was wrapped in the Serbian national flag, and soldiers carried it to a van bound for a military hospital. Supporters lit flares and cheered as the convoy passed through Belgrade, according to reports from NBC News and Al Jazeera.

Kos said the coming days would be “a very important test” for Serbia ahead of Mladić’s burial, which is scheduled for Monday in Belgrade and could draw thousands of admirers. She said she would not proceed with her Serbia visit “at this time.”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić rejected Kos’s explanation, calling it “very short but stupid,” according to regional N1 television. Vučić said Kos did not specify “who glorified anything,” adding, “I guess we should ban people from showing up, ban the funeral.” Al Jazeera reported that Vučić said the government would provide “every kind of logistical and transport support” and that he expected tens of thousands to attend.

Mladić’s son, Darko Mladić, said Friday that a military commemoration is planned for Saturday. The coffin is to be placed in a Belgrade church Monday morning so people can pay their respects before the funeral and burial later that day.

Vučić had previously said Mladić would be buried with full state honors, prompting anger across the Balkans. On Friday, he said he had previously scheduled meetings Monday and that funeral arrangements were made by the family. “I have spoken to the Mladić family and I wish it all passes in a dignified way,” Vučić said, according to pro-government Informer television. “I did all I could so that the funeral would pass as it should.”

Other European officials also condemned honors for Mladić. Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty urged authorities in Serbia and in Bosnia’s Serb-run entity to “counter the glorification of convicted war criminals,” saying such glorification is illegal in Bosnia and “is not protected speech under the European Convention on Human Rights.” Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said funeral honors for Mladić would be “shameful and disrespectful for the victims.”

The Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed, was Europe’s first acknowledged genocide after World War II. The Bosnian War killed more than 100,000 people and displaced more than 1 million before ending in 1995 under a U.S.-brokered peace agreement.

Serbia has been negotiating EU accession since 2014, but the process has stalled in recent years. NBC News reported that the bid has been slowed by democratic backsliding and Vučić’s refusal to join international sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.