The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday in Belgrade that she deeply believes that the future of Serbia is in the European Union, but she did not concretely estimate the time of possible admission, pointing out that it is “a process of alignment with the EU that defines accession process” of each country individually.
Von der Leyen started a two-day visit to Serbia on Friday, continuing her Western Balkans tour, and at a joint conference, after a one-on-one conversation with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, she qualified Serbia as “one of the most advanced countries” in EU accession.
“It is in this spirit that we are working on the opening of cluster three,” said Von der Leyen, referring to the cluster related to market competition and growth. With the assessment that the partnership between Serbia and the EU is stronger, it resulted in obtaining an investment credit rating.
When asked by a journalist whether they had discussed the relations between Serbia and Russia and how she explained Vu’s absence from the BRICS summit, to which the Serbian delegation was also invited, Von der Leyen said that is Vučić took numerous steps to get closer to the Union.
“The President of Serbia hosted me here today, he also hosted the Prime Ministers of Greece and Poland earlier, and that speaks for itself. My coming here is a sign that I believe that the future of Serbia is in the European Union, the future of common values, where Serbia will enjoy the rights of membership in the European Union,” she said.
Vučić has, according to the EC president, “taken numerous steps to realize this”, and that “it is an important fact” that he met with her today, and earlier with EU leaders “instead of being somewhere else”.
Von der Leyen said that the economies of the region should be brought closer to the economy of the EU, assessing that Serbia has a “great reform agenda”.
“Now we need to start implementing the 1.6 billion euros that Serbia will receive as part of the Growth Plan,” Von der Leyen said.
Vučić pointed out that Von der Leyen is visiting Belgrade and Serbia for the second time, stating that they had a “sincere conversation” and that she was always ready to listen to the other side.
“Of course, there are things that the EU complains about Serbia, but President Von der Leyen was always ready to listen to our side, to help us,” said Vučić adding that they also spoke about Serbia’s commitments.
While I am the President of the Republic, “we will never change the main goals of our foreign and domestic policy”, pointed out Vučić adding that these are the country’s European path and advocacy for EU membership.
He emphasized that this means that Serbia’s European path is of key importance for progress and that Serbia will work dedicatedly on that path, hoping for results.
Speaking to the reform agenda, Vučić said that he knows what needs to be done in terms of the rule of law, especially in the matter of the judiciary.
“This time I can say that I hope to open cluster 3 by the end of the year, which would be important and would be a significant signal that Serbia is progressing on its European path. It is important that we preserve peace, even though I , as you know, as far as the world situation is concerned, I am not overly optimistic,” Vučić said.
After Belgrade, the President of the European Commission will travel to Kosovo and Montenegro on Saturday.
As of December 2021, not a single cluster or chapter has been opened or closed in the accession negotiations with Serbia, which were opened in 2014. The main reason for this is its refusal to align with the Union’s foreign policy when it comes toč on sanctions against Russia due to aggression against Ukraine. In addition, the lack of progress in the implementation of the agreement on the normalization of relations with Kosovo, as well as the issue of the rule of law and media freedom, is also a problem.