EU official cancels Serbia visit after backlash over Mladic tribute

The European Union's enlargement chief Marta Kos has cancelled a planned visit to Serbia after condemning the public glorification of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic following his death. Kos said the reaction around Mladic's death was incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built. Her decision adds a fresh diplomatic strain to Serbia's already difficult relationship with Brussels.

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Kos said on Friday that she would not proceed with the trip at this time. Her comments came after Mladic's body was flown from The Hague to Belgrade and received with a guard of honour on Thursday, days before his scheduled burial. Supporters were seen cheering as the body was driven through the Serbian capital, while regional television quoted Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as criticising Kos's explanation.

Mladic died on August 27 at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in The Hague for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the Bosnian War. He was convicted by a UN court in 2017, but remains regarded as a hero by sections of the Serbian public and political establishment. Vucic said the government would provide every kind of logistical and transport support and expected tens of thousands to attend the funeral.

The episode matters because it touches one of the most sensitive issues in the Balkans: the legacy of the Bosnian War and the Srebrenica genocide. Mladic was one of the most notorious military commanders of that conflict, which left more than 100,000 people dead. His forces killed more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in July 1995, an atrocity that continues to shape relations between Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the wider region.

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It also has direct implications for Serbia's EU accession process. Serbia has been negotiating membership since 2014, but the process has stalled in recent years under Vucic. Brussels has repeatedly linked progress to rule of law, democratic standards and alignment with European values, making public praise for convicted war criminals politically significant in the accession debate.

What remains unclear is whether Kos's cancellation will lead to any further diplomatic response from the European Union or Serbia. It is also not yet clear how large the funeral attendance will be or whether the public reaction will deepen divisions inside Serbia. The immediate focus will be on the burial and on whether the row affects the next stage of Serbia's relations with the bloc.

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