Serbia's proximity to Russia is becoming an increasing problem in realizing its aspirations for EU membership.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic believes that his country is “no longer excited” about the prospect of membership in the European Union. He said this during a speech at a POLITICO panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“We don't want it as much as we used to, in the sense that the European Union is not as interested in us as we thought,” the president said.
He added that he was pessimistic about Serbia joining the European Union in the near future.
Serbia was identified as a potential candidate country to join the EU in 2003, and Belgrade submitted a formal application for membership in 2009. However, the accession negotiations have dragged on, and Serbia's proximity to Russia is becoming an increasing obstacle. The EU has made it clear that potential members must toe its line on foreign policy and sanctions.
While Belgrade has said it supports Ukraine, it has refused to impose sanctions on Moscow< /strong>, his long-time ally.
Denying his country's closeness to Putin, Vucic criticized articles calling him “Putin's puppet” and accused the media of “brutal lies”.
Read also: Belgrade promises to verify information about the participation of Serbs in the war against Ukraine
Vucic stated that he agrees with the fact that the Russian-occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas are part of Ukraine and added that Serbia is more committed to the territorial integrity of UN member states “than many others”.
However, the president dodged a question about whether he considers Putin a war criminal and instead criticized Davos participants for naming the Russian leader “crazy”. According to Vuchich, this is not true.
Despite the gloomy prospects for EU membership, Vucic called the European Political Community — an intergovernmental forum created in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine — an “important step” and praised French President Emmanuel Macron for this idea.
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