Serbia accused of 'glorifying' convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić ahead of funeral

WORLD: BELGRADE, Serbia, The European Union's Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos on Friday canceled an upcoming visit to candidate nation Serbia over what she described as the "glorification" of former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladić following his death. Mladić was convicted of genocide by a U.N. court but remains a hero to many Serbs.

Mladić's remains were flown to Belgrade on a Serbian government plane from The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday, a week after his death and days ahead of his burial in a Belgrade cemetery.

Mladić was sentenced in 2017 to life imprisonment for orchestrating the massacre of more than 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995; the yearslong siege of the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo during the 1992-95 conflict; and other war crimes, including setting up concentration camps for detained non-Serb civilians and enemy soldiers.

Upon landing in Belgrade, Mladić's coffin was wrapped in the national flag and Serbian soldiers carried his body to a van for transport to the military hospital. Serbia's Justice Minister Nenad Vujic was on the plane with Mladić's family members and nationalist admirers lit flares as the convoy passed.

Kos said on X that "the glorification surrounding his death is incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built."

"Ratko Mladić was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," Kos said. "The return of his remains to Belgrade reminds Europe of the darkest pages in our recent history."

In Belgrade, regional N1 television quoted Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vučić as saying that Kos's explanation was "very short but stupid." Vučić said Kos did not specify "who glorified anything" but that "I guess we should ban people from showing up, ban the funeral."

This Bay News report is based on originating coverage from NBC.