Glorifying Mladic rankles European officials: Will Serbia’s actions have concrete consequences?

The glorification of Ratko Mladic in Serbia has become a major irritant for European officials. It prompted European Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos to postpone a visit, while President Aleksandar Vucic responded by attacking the messenger rather than the message.

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I'm not bothered that she isn't coming. Her comments bother me. I won't let you humiliate our country. And don't lie.

“I'm not bothered that she isn't coming. Her comments bother me,” Vucic said. He accused Kos of humiliating Serbia and lying, adding that she was always the source of bad messages about the country.

Former diplomat and university professor Dusko Lopandic said the insults directed at the official responsible for enlargement revealed what the authorities really think about the European Union. He argued that Vucic’s message was effectively that Serbia did not want to join the EU, accompanied by a qualification intended for foreign audiences: that the president personally still supported membership.

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There you have it: she now bothers us too, just as most members of the European Parliament bother us, and ultimately the European Union itself bothers us, so we will not join the European Union. That is more or less the message Vucic is sending, with one qualification for foreigners: I personally am still in favour of the European Union, so don't bother me.

European Parliament member Andreas Schieder defended Kos’s decision, saying Europe had no place for the glorification of war criminals. He said Serbian authorities knew this but had chosen a particular way to communicate. “This is the classic strategy Vucic always uses, presenting critics of his policies as critics of all of Serbia,” Schieder said. He added that Vucic should prevent the glorification of Mladic, comply with international law and stop trading accusations with the European Commission.

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This is the classic strategy Vucic always uses, presenting critics of his policies as critics of all of Serbia. I have to say this: Aleksandar Vucic's policy is what endangers Serbia's European path.

The article also points to a video repeatedly broadcast by the pro-government Informer. The clip shows a military-honours reception for Mladic’s body and carries the words “President Vucic’s politics.” Informer owner Dragan J. Vucicevic said the video was not really dedicated to Mladic, but its message targeted the government’s political opponents while praising Vucic’s actions after Mladic’s death. Lopandic said the episode showed the return, in recycled form, of the radical politics of the 1990s. Schieder was asked whether the authorities’ conduct would bring concrete consequences, or whether the EU would continue separating such disputes from formal membership negotiations. His response was cut off in the supplied text.

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With every situation like the one involving Mladic, you can see that the radical character, or the politics of the 1990s, is returning in recycled form.