EU cancels Serbia visit after Belgrade receives Ratko Mladic remains with military honors
European Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos cancelled her planned trip to Belgrade after Serbia repatriated convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic on a government plane with an official guard of honor.
Military reception in Belgrade
The body of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic arrived in Belgrade on Thursday, 3 September 2026, aboard a Serbian government aircraft. The UN tribunal handed over his remains at Rotterdam The Hague Airport to his family following his death in detention on 27 August 2026 at age 84. Mladic was serving a life sentence following his 2017 conviction by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Six Serbian soldiers carried the coffin, draped in the national flag, from the government plane to a transport van at the Belgrade airport. The flight from the Netherlands was accompanied by Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic and Mladic's son, Darko Mladic. A police motorcade escorted the casket along the highway to a military hospital in Belgrade, passing crowds of young supporters gathered on overpasses who lit flares and displayed banners honoring the former general.
- Ratko Mladic dies in UN detention in The Hague at age 84
- Thousands gather in Banja Luka for commemoration vigils
- Remains arrive in Belgrade on government plane with military honors
- EU Commissioner Marta Kos cancels official visit to Serbia
- Public church service and funeral scheduled in Belgrade
- Originally scheduled date of cancelled EU commissioner visit
Diplomatic backlash and cancelled EU visit
European Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos announced on Friday, 4 September 2026, that she had cancelled an official visit to Serbia scheduled for 9 September 2026. Kos stated that public honors accorded to a convicted war criminal conflict directly with the foundational values required for accession to the European Union, which include reconciliation, judicial reckoning with the past, and respect for victims.
Ratko Mladic was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The glorification around his death is incompatible with the values on which the EU was built.
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty also condemned the public tributes on Friday. O'Flaherty stated that such glorification constitutes a criminal offence under the legal code of Bosnia and Herzegovina and causes renewed trauma for survivors and families of victims.
Regional tributes and funeral arrangements
The reception in Belgrade followed commemorations in the Serb-dominated entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On Tuesday, 1 September 2026, several thousand people assembled in Banja Luka to hold vigils and marches honoring Mladic. Political figures in Republika Srpska avoided distancing themselves from the former commander, presenting him instead as a military protector during the conflict.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that state authorities are preparing extensive security measures for the event, citing estimates from police and security services that tens of thousands of people could attend the burial. Serbian media reported that a public memorial service in a Belgrade church and the formal funeral are scheduled for Monday, 7 September 2026, following a military commemoration planned for Saturday.
- Srebrenica genocide committed during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War
- Serbia submits formal application for European Union membership
- European Union grants Serbia official candidate status
- ICTY sentences Ratko Mladic to life imprisonment for genocide and war crimes
- Appeals chamber upholds Mladic's life sentence
- Mladic dies in custody at UN detention facility in The Hague
Wartime legacy and stalled accession
Mladic commanded the Bosnian Serb army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, a conflict that resulted in approximately 100,000 deaths and displaced more than one million people. His convictions include responsibility for the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where roughly 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were executed, as well as the siege of Sarajevo. The appeals chamber of the UN tribunal confirmed his life sentence in 2021.
Serbia applied for European Union membership in 2009 and received official candidate status in March 2012. Accession negotiations remain slowed by domestic rule-of-law benchmarks, bilateral disputes with Kosovo, and government reluctance to break with figures associated with the Yugoslav wars.
