Senior EU official cancels Serbia trip over planned tribute to Mladic

EU’s Marta Kos cancels Serbia visit, condemning Ratko Mladic ‘glorification’ as incompatible with European values.

Mladic’s body arrives to full military honours in Serbia | AJ Shorts

The European Union’s enlargement chief Marta Kos has cancelled her upcoming visit to Serbia over what she called the “glorification” of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic following his death.

Kos took to X on Friday to condemn the “glorification surrounding his death”, saying it “is incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built”.

list 1 of 4 Mladic’s body arrives to full military honours in Serbia

list 2 of 4 Mladic died a happy man

list 3 of 4 Butcher of Bosnia Ratko Mladic still hailed as a hero by some Serbs

list 4 of 4 Serbia welcomes return of war criminal Mladic’s body with military honours

Mladic’s body was flown from The Hague to Belgrade , where it was received with a guard of honour on Thursday, days before his scheduled burial.

“In this context, I have decided not to proceed with my planned visit to Serbia at this time,” Kos added.

Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia”, Mladic died at the age of 84 on August 27 while serving a life sentence in The Hague for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the Bosnian War.

Despite a UN court conviction in 2017, Mladic is considered a hero by sections of the Serbian public and political establishment. Supporters were seen cheering as his body was driven through Belgrade on Thursday.

Regional N1 television quoted Serbian populist President Aleksandar Vucic as saying that Kos’s explanation was “very short but stupid”.

A woman walks by a mural that shows former Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic in Belgrade on September 2, 2026 [Darko Vojinovic/AP]

Vucic also said that the government would provide “every kind of logistical and transport support” and that he expected tens of thousands to attend the funeral.

Serbia has been negotiating EU accession since 2014, but the process has stalled in recent years under Vucic.

Mladic was one of the most notorious military commanders of the Bosnian War, which left more than 100,000 people dead. His legacy is closely linked to the Srebrenica genocide, in which his forces killed more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in July 1995.

欧盟委员玛尔塔·科斯取消了对塞尔维亚的访问，谴责对拉特科·姆拉迪奇的“吹捧”与欧洲价值观不符。

姆拉迪奇的遗体抵达塞尔维亚，享受最高军事荣誉 | AJ Shorts

欧盟扩大事务负责人玛尔塔·科斯取消了她即将对塞尔维亚的访问，原因是她认为塞尔维亚在已定罪的战争罪犯拉特科·姆拉迪奇死后对其进行了“美化”。

科斯周五在 X 上发表文章，谴责“对他的死进行美化”，称这“与欧盟道路所建立的价值观不相符”。

（共4条记录，第1条）姆拉迪奇的遗体抵达塞尔维亚，享受最高军事荣誉

列表 2/4：姆拉迪奇死得很开心

名单3/4：波斯尼亚屠夫拉特科·姆拉迪奇仍被一些塞尔维亚人奉为英雄

塞尔维亚以军礼迎接战犯姆拉迪奇遗体归来（共4条，此为第4条）

姆拉迪奇的遗体从海牙运往贝尔格莱德，周四，在预定下葬日期前几天，遗体受到了仪仗队的迎接。

科斯补充道：“鉴于此，我决定暂时取消原定的塞尔维亚之行。”

被称为“波斯尼亚屠夫”的姆拉迪奇于 8 月 27 日在海牙去世，享年 84 岁。他因在波斯尼亚战争期间犯下的种族灭绝罪、反人类罪和战争罪而被判处终身监禁。

尽管联合国法庭在2017年判处姆拉迪奇有罪，但塞尔维亚部分民众和政治人士仍视他为英雄。周四，当他的遗体被运过贝尔格莱德时，支持者们欢呼雀跃。

塞尔维亚地区电视台 N1 援引塞尔维亚民粹主义总统亚历山大·武契奇的话说，科斯的解释“非常简短但愚蠢”。

2026年9月2日，一名女子走过贝尔格莱德一幅描绘波斯尼亚塞族前战时将领拉特科·姆拉迪奇的壁画。[Darko Vojinovic/AP]

武契奇还表示，政府将提供“各种后勤和运输支持”，并预计会有数万人参加葬礼。

塞尔维亚自 2014 年以来一直在与欧盟进行入盟谈判，但近年来在武契奇的领导下，这一进程陷入停滞。

姆拉迪奇是波斯尼亚战争中最臭名昭著的军事指挥官之一，这场战争造成超过10万人死亡。他的罪行与斯雷布雷尼察大屠杀密切相关，1995年7月，他的部队杀害了超过8000名波斯尼亚穆斯林男子和男孩。