EU commissioner cancels Serbia visit after state plane flies Mladic's remains

European Union enlargement commissioner Marta Kos announced on Tuesday that she would not travel to Belgrade as planned, after the Serbian government arranged for a state aircraft to carry the remains of former army chief Ratko Mladić to the capital for a state‑sponsored funeral. The decision, made just hours before Kos was due to land, was presented as a protest against what the EU sees as a breach of its core values, while Serbian officials defended the ceremony as a “national mourning” for a figure they regard as a war hero.

Kos’s cancelled visit comes at a critical juncture for Serbia’s long‑standing bid to join the EU. The enlargement portfolio, which oversees the accession of candidate countries, has repeatedly warned that progress hinges on the fulfillment of stringent rule‑of‑law criteria, including cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and its successor mechanisms. Serbia’s handling of the Mladić affair—particularly the use of a government plane to transport the convicted general’s remains and the public honors accorded to him—has been interpreted by Brussels as a symbolic repudiation of the tribunal’s judgments and a setback to the reconciliation process demanded by EU accession guidelines.

Ratko Mladić, sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo, remains a polarising figure in the Balkans. While the International Criminal Court and numerous human‑rights groups condemn him as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” a segment of the Serbian public and political elite continue to view him as a defender of the nation’s interests during the 1990s conflicts. The Serbian government’s decision to fly his remains to Belgrade, allow a public viewing, and hold a funeral attended by senior officials and clergy was framed domestically as an act of “respect for the dead” and a response to popular sentiment, despite international criticism.

The EU’s reaction reflects a broader tension between its ambition to expand stability across the Western Balkans and the need to uphold the standards that underpin its internal market and foreign policy. Enlargement officials have repeatedly emphasized that candidate states must demonstrate a clear break from nationalist revisionism and a commitment to confronting the past. In recent years, Brussels has linked progress on accession chapters—such as judiciary reform, media freedom and anti‑corruption measures—to demonstrable steps toward reconciliation. Kos’s cancellation therefore serves both as a diplomatic rebuke and a reminder that symbolic gestures can carry substantive weight in accession negotiations.

Serbian authorities, for their part, have argued that the funeral is an internal matter and that external pressure should not dictate how the nation commemorates its history. Prime Minister Ana Brnabić’s office issued a statement asserting that Serbia “remains committed to the European path” while also defending the right to “honour those who have served the country.” The divergence underscores the delicate balancing act Belgrade faces: pursuing EU membership and the associated economic benefits while managing domestic political currents that are often skeptical of Western institutions.

The episode matters for the wider region because the Western Balkans are a focal point of EU strategic interests, encompassing security, migration and energy corridors that link Europe to the Black Sea and the Middle East. A slowdown or reversal in Serbia’s accession prospects could alter the calculus of neighboring countries, potentially emboldening nationalist rhetoric and complicating ongoing reforms. Moreover, the EU’s stance on the Mladić funeral signals to other aspirant states that symbolic compliance with EU norms is as important as technical reforms, reinforcing the Union’s broader effort to promote a rule‑of‑law based order in a historically volatile part of Europe.