BRUSSELS/BELGRADE, Sept. 4 (Balkan View) – Tensions between Serbia and the European Union intensified after Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos cancelled a planned visit over what she described as the glorification of convicted Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladić, while President Aleksandar Vučić dismissed her reasoning and a group of European Parliament lawmakers separately called for EU funding to Serbia to be frozen.
The developments put fresh pressure on Belgrade over two politically sensitive issues: Serbia’s approach to the legacy of the Yugoslav wars and allegations that state surveillance tools have been used against students, activists and opposition politicians.
Kos said Mladić had been convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and that the return of his remains to Belgrade had brought back memories of some of Europe’s darkest recent history.
“The glorification surrounding his death is incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built,” Kos said.
She said Serbia’s European path required confronting the past, genuine reconciliation and respect for victims of war crimes.
“The values that underpin our common future are not negotiable,” she said, adding that she had decided not to proceed with her planned visit to Serbia “at this time”.
Kos had earlier described Serbia’s response to the return of Mladić’s remains to Belgrade as an important test, saying EU member states assess not only technical progress in accession negotiations but also a candidate country’s alignment with European values.
Vučić dismisses Kos criticism
Vučić responded sharply, questioning what Serbian authorities were expected to have done differently surrounding Mladić’s funeral.
He called Kos’s explanation “short” and “stupid”, according to Serbian public broadcaster RTS, and questioned who exactly had glorified Mladić.
“Were we supposed to ban people from appearing, ban the funeral, make dog cemeteries, ban people from coming to the funeral, not regulate traffic?” Vučić said.
He also accused Serbia’s European critics of failing to understand public sentiment in the country.
Vučić said Serbs were tired of what he described as “lies”, territorial seizures and unequal treatment of Serbs and others over wartime crimes.
He also sarcastically referred to Serbia’s stalled EU accession negotiations, saying he had been looking forward to discussing with Kos how Serbia would open Cluster 3 “in four years”.
Vulin: Mladić ‘protected Serbs’ from Kos visit
Former Serbian government official and Socialist Movement leader Aleksandar Vulin went further, openly defending the Serbian public’s attachment to Mladić.
“General Mladić has once again protected the Serbs, this time from Marta Kos’s arrival,” Vulin said, according to Serbian media.
Vulin said the EU could influence Serbia’s government and slow its integration process but could not force Serbs “not to mourn, love and celebrate their hero”.
“Our attitude towards Mladić is our attitude towards ourselves and our victims,” he said, adding that the EU’s approach was another argument for holding a referendum on Serbia’s membership ambitions.
His remarks sharpened the clash over an issue that has repeatedly complicated Serbia’s relations with the EU and its neighbours: how the country deals with the legacy of the 1990s wars and individuals convicted by international courts.
30 MEPs demand EU funding freeze
The dispute comes as Belgrade faces a separate challenge in Brussels.
In a Sept. 3 letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Kos, 30 members of the European Parliament from several political groups called for “immediate, concrete EU action” over allegations of state-sponsored spyware in Serbia.
The lawmakers cited forensic evidence published by the SHARE Foundation and independently verified by Amnesty International and Citizen Lab which, according to the letter, showed Serbian authorities using spyware against student leaders, activists, an MP and local opposition politicians.
The letter said Pegasus spyware had been deployed remotely, while Android spyware known as “NoviSpy” had been installed on phones confiscated during police interrogations.
The lawmakers called on the Commission to freeze payments under the EU Growth Plan for Serbia, including pre-accession assistance and payments from the Reform and Growth Facility, until an international investigation was completed.
They also urged von der Leyen to cancel a planned stop in Belgrade during an upcoming Western Balkans tour.
The MEPs called for Serbia’s EU accession progress to be tied more closely to rule-of-law accountability, including an independent audit of Serbia’s BIA security agency and Interior Ministry.
They also demanded implementation of recommendations from the European Parliament’s PEGA committee on spyware, including stronger EU-wide regulation and mechanisms to assist surveillance victims.
“Appeasement has failed,” the lawmakers said. “It is time for the Commission to demonstrate that compliance with fundamental democratic standards is a non-negotiable requirement, not an option.”
The signatories come from several political groups, including the Greens/EFA, Socialists and Democrats, European People’s Party, Renew Europe and The Left.
Serbia’s EU path faces pressure on two fronts
The two disputes are separate. Kos’s cancelled visit concerns Serbia’s handling of Mladić’s legacy, while the MEP initiative concerns allegations of illegal surveillance.
Together, however, they put the focus back on a fundamental question surrounding Serbia’s long-running EU accession process: whether technical reforms can advance independently of disputes over democratic standards, foreign policy and reconciliation with the wartime past.
Kos’s comments suggest Brussels increasingly sees the two dimensions as inseparable.
The European Parliament letter adds a financial dimension by calling for EU assistance to be made conditional on democratic and rule-of-law standards.
The lawmakers’ demand does not itself freeze EU funds. Such a move would require action through the EU’s relevant institutions and procedures.
But the political messages from Brussels, combined with the increasingly confrontational responses from Belgrade, point to a difficult period ahead in Serbia’s relationship with the bloc.