EU Enlargement Chief Marta Kos Scraps Belgrade Visit Over Honours for Ratko Mladić

Visit canceled over state reception

European Union Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos announced on 4 September 2026 that she called off her scheduled trip to Serbia. The decision followed the arrival of the remains of Bosnian Serb wartime commander Ratko Mladić in Belgrade aboard a Serbian state aircraft. Kos was scheduled to visit Belgrade between 9 and 10 September 2026 for routine accession talks and an event organized by the think tank GLOBSEC. Speaking earlier in Dublin, Kos noted that Serbia's handling of the funeral served as a critical test for how the candidate country aligns with EU values.

Ratko Mladic 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.

Military honours at Belgrade airport

Mladić died on 27 August 2026 at age 84 in a United Nations detention hospital in The Hague, where he had been serving a life sentence. On 3 September 2026, Dutch authorities released his remains at Rotterdam The Hague Airport before a Serbian government aircraft landed in Belgrade just before 18:00 local time. Serbian soldiers in uniform received the flag-draped casket and transferred it to a military vehicle bound for the Military Medical Academy for an autopsy. Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujić traveled aboard the flight alongside Mladić's son and granddaughter. Spectators lined the convoy route with banners reading "Thanks, General" and "Heroes never die", while fireworks were set off in multiple towns and the Red Star Belgrade football club posted tributes online.

Funeral arrangements and political fallout

Justice Minister Nenad Vujić initially announced that Mladić would receive full state honours, though the Serbian government did not subsequently confirm that designation. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said the state will provide logistical and transport assistance, noting that public security forces face a substantial task managing the tens of thousands expected to attend. Vučić confirmed he will not attend the burial himself, citing scheduled bilateral meetings in Belgrade with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. A commemorative gathering is scheduled for 5 September 2026 at the Central House of the Army in Belgrade, with burial planned for 7 September 2026 at Topčider cemetery near his daughter's grave.

International condemnation and accession friction

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty also condemned the public tributes, stating that he abhors the public glorification of the convicted commander. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the online monitoring platform Registar 145a logged thousands of complaints regarding genocide denial and glorification across Serbian television networks and social media. In 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sentenced Mladić to life imprisonment for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The verdict addressed the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, as well as the 43-month siege of Sarajevo that killed roughly 10,000 people. Serbia opened EU accession negotiations in 2014, but Kos reiterated that the path requires confronting the past and respecting victims.

The glorification surrounding his death is incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built.