After months of record-breaking protests in Serbia, the EU has finally broken its silence — offering a rare yet measured rebuke to Belgrade.
“The country needs to deliver on EU reforms, in particular to take decisive steps towards media freedom, the fight against corruption and the electoral reform,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X Tuesday evening following a working dinner with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
The meeting, which was also attended by Council President António Costa, addressed the current political situation in Serbia and its path toward EU accession. It came at a critical moment for Vučić, who has been unable to quell student blockades and protests that have persisted for more than four months. The demonstrators have demanded accountability from Serbia’s leadership on corruption and on the erosion of democratic institutions during the president’s tenure.
The EU, meanwhile, has been perceived as being unusually cautious about supporting the protests, while Vučić’s working dinner with the bloc’s top leaders sparked controversy in and outside of Serbia. Last week 32 MEPs demanded in a letter that von der Leyen cancel the meeting.
“It’s important that the Commission engages with him [Vučić],” Slovenian Green MEP Irena Joveva said. “But before giving him a platform to use back home for a surreal show, the EU should clearly state that Serbian protesters are demanding the very things the EU allegedly wants from Serbia but has failed to achieve.”
“The EU has lost a lot of credibility in the last years in Western Balkans, and now is the time to finally wake up and radically change policy,” Joveva added.
Srđan Majstorović, chair of the governing board of the European Policy Centre, agreed that the Serbian student movement represents “a positive signal about the vitality of democracy in the region and Europe,” and noted that “such public support is also important for the EU given the trend of the collapse of democratic values throughout Europe.”
Vučić, for his part, told the state-owned broadcaster RTS after the dinner that he had advised his EU interlocutors that “Serbia is absolutely committed to that strategic path” and that “a decision will be made very soon on the formation of a new government or holding elections.”
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