‘Serbia needs to align further with the EU’, Commissioner Várhelyi tells Vučić in Belgrade
Serbia utilized for EU membership in 2009 and was accepted as a candidate nation in 2012, however little progress has been made since then, with the Belgrade authorities accused of democratic backsliding.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has welcomed the EU’s enlargement commissioner on his go to to Belgrade on Monday for talks in regards to the nation’s future membership.
European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi mentioned he hoped the subsequent fee would see Serbia becoming a member of the bloc whereas mentioning that Serbia must proceed with democratic reforms and align its international coverage extra intently with that of the EU.
“It’s clear that we’d like the democratic reforms to go forward,” Varhelyi mentioned.
“One can not neglect about the necessity to align additional with the EU international coverage, that is once more one thing that we have now mentioned and the place we’d like Serbia to maneuver alongside and to regulate its international coverage increasingly more to EU international coverage.”
Vučić mentioned he believed Serbia’s efforts to affix the union wouldn’t be hampered, however he remained imprecise on precise coverage shifts.
“I’m not positive that it’s attainable to foretell a few years forward however we are going to put together to be nearer (with negotiations) and I hope that if what Oliver Varhelyi rightly reproached us for, which is our non-compliance with their international coverage, is not going to be a hindrance,” he mentioned.
Serbia utilized for EU membership in 2009 and was accepted as an official candidate nation in 2012, however since then, little progress has been made in direction of becoming a member of the bloc with Vučić’s Serbia, a rustic he has led since 2017, typically accused of sliding in direction of authoritarianism.
Democratic backsliding?
The nation was rocked by weekly protests final yr following two mass shootings in Might, which left 18 folks, together with 9 schoolchildren, useless. Initially demanding more durable gun management legal guidelines, the rallies quickly morphed into anti-government protests.
Protesters have been offended about democratic backsliding underneath the Vučić authorities, accusing it of accelerating authoritarianism, corruption and having hyperlinks to organised crime.
The latest Freedom Home report ranks Serbia’s political rights rating at 18 out of a attainable 40, inserting it among the many partly free, hybrid regimes class, with a downward tendency in direction of authoritarianism.
Civil society representatives within the nation have repeatedly mentioned they felt betrayed by their authorities and Brussels for failing to maneuver the EU membership course of ahead and accused Vučić of fuelling hate, intolerance and violence within the nation, claims he denied.
A few of Vučić’s political choices have raised eyebrows in Brussels, akin to Belgrade’s refusal to affix in with EU sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Vučić has for years claimed to observe a “impartial” coverage, balancing ties with Moscow, Beijing, Brussels and Washington. However in an interview with the Russian information company Tass, Vučić summed up relations between Belgrade and Moscow as “a real pal is recognised in moments of problem”, including that he would proceed to withstand slapping sanctions on Russia for “so long as attainable”.
Serbia has additionally bought Russian gasoline on beneficial phrases and added Russian {hardware} to its navy arsenal.
Earlier this yr, the European Parliament handed a decision calling for the suspension of EU funding to Serbia if nationwide authorities fail to implement its electoral suggestions and if it is revealed that Serbian authorities dedicated electoral fraud. That transfer got here following accusations of significant irregularities within the Belgrade native elections.
One other situation is Kosovo. In April, EU international affairs ministers met in Luxemburg and agreed to amend Chapter 35, a key a part of the negotiations portfolio regarding Serbia’s negotiations to affix the EU. The change means Brussels would freeze Serbia’s accession course of into the bloc if it did not implement an settlement on normalising its relationship with its former province.
The primary situation for Serbia to adjust to is that it should cease obstructing Kosovo’s efforts to affix key worldwide organisations, such because the UN, the Council of Europe and NATO.
Nevertheless, Serbia has refused to recognise Kosovo ever because it declared independence in 2008. Now, Serbia fears that accepting Kosovo’s membership in these establishments will implicitly recognise its statehood, a pink line Belgrade will not be keen to cross.
Regardless of these points, Varhelyi remained optimistic.
“It’s clear for me that the subsequent fee must be an enlargement fee. The following fee must put all of its work and energy to get the brand new members into the European Union,” he mentioned.