EU commissioner cancels Serbia visit over 'glorification' of Mladić

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has cancelled a planned visit to Belgrade in protest at Serbia's treatment of the late war criminal Ratko Mladić.

"The return of his remains to Belgrade reminds Europe of the darkest pages in our recent history. The glorification surrounding his death is incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built," she wrote on X on Friday.

"That path requires confronting the past, genuine reconciliation and respecting the victims of war crimes," she wrote.

"The values that underpin our common future are not negotiable. In this context, I have decided not to proceed with my planned visit to Serbia at this time."

Mladić died in late July in a prison hospital in The Hague. An international court had sentenced him to life imprisonment for war crimes in the Bosnia war in the 1990s.

It found him guilty of crimes including the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, in which Bosnian Serb militias under his command killed more than 8,000 people, mainly men and male teenagers.

Mladić was a Bosnian Serb but received his pay and later his pension from the Serbian army.

Mladić's body was transferred to Belgrade on Thursday evening in a Serbian military aircraft. According to media reports, Mladić's burial is planned for next Monday at Belgrade's Topčider cemetery.

President Aleksandar Vučić said he would not attend because of a scheduling conflict: He would be receiving Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for an official visit to Belgrade at the beginning of the week.

A commemorative event for Mladić is also planned in Belgrade's Army House on Saturday.

Serbia has been negotiating EU accession since 2014. Under Vučić, there has been no progress in the talks in recent years.