It has been 18 years since Serbia signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union.
“From this distance, we cannot say that nothing has been done, but while we have obtained a European framework, we have not fully achieved a European state,” Dragana Đurica from the European Movement told Insajder.
“The Stabilisation and Association Agreement brought many benefits, which translated into concrete economic gains. Let us not forget that we subsequently obtained visa liberalisation and emerged from a long period of isolation. At the same time, we gained a very important framework for economic rapprochement with the European Union. This resulted in our exports growing from three billion euros at the time to 19 billion euros. The European Union is our most important trading partner. The majority of investments in Serbia have come from the European Union. Two-thirds of our exports go to the EU. Our companies cooperate with them the most. We also later gained opportunities for cooperation in the field of education. We received pre-accession assistance,” Đurica explained.
According to the Insajder interviewee, the main reason Serbia finds itself in this situation on its path towards the European Union lies with the political elites “because they failed to use that momentum to organise the state and failed to use the European framework for a deep transformation of the country that was much needed,” which, she adds, was “essential for creating a system tailored to citizens’ needs.”
“What has happened, unfortunately, is that European funds, trade liberalisation, cooperation in education and similar benefits have been utilised. However, measurable reforms have never been fully implemented in those fundamental areas that should serve as the foundation for all others. Whether it concerns the economy, the environment, finances, education, the rule of law, democratic and independent institutions – meaning completely free from party influence – free media and civil liberties. Unfortunately, over the past several years, the European Commission has recorded stagnation, while in the last year and a half we have seen serious regression and significant backsliding, which calls into question not only the European funds being discussed, but Serbia’s entire European path. Most importantly, and most critically, it calls into question the kind of system our citizens live in. We are now in a situation where citizens largely no longer trust institutions or the system, and where most media with national coverage, instead of providing a clear and fully impartial picture, spread a certain kind of fear,” Đurica explained.
She adds that Serbia alone is not to blame for this situation, as responsibility also lies with the European Union.
“The European Union tolerated this for too long and largely described it in carefully chosen diplomatic language in order not to lose Serbia as an important partner and a key actor in the Western Balkans region. However, we have now reached a point where the stability and predictability that were so carefully preserved over recent years are in question, and this kind of leniency towards the authorities and the ‘stabilitocracy’ approach pursued by the European Union has resulted in there now being neither stability nor predictability,” the Insajder interviewee emphasised.
As she further points out, Serbia faces a major underlying problem of fulfilling form and technical requirements.
“We may have laws and constitutional amendments concerning the judiciary, but that means little if the judiciary cannot operate without political influence. Likewise, having media laws is not enough if we do not have a functional regulatory body to oversee those media in a fully impartial manner. These are just some examples of how a European path is declared, while in reality anti-European practices are implemented on the ground. The same applies to elections. Yes, we have an electoral process, ballot boxes and ballot papers, but we also have campaigns conducted by public officials, voter intimidation, and everything else documented in public and official reports that Serbia has received from ODIHR and ultimately accepted as obligations for reform – yet these are still not being implemented. Therefore, it is not surprising that citizens are disillusioned with Serbia’s European path, precisely because that path has been used as a framework for public narrative and political legitimisation abroad, while anti-European practices have been carried out at home,” Đurica said.
She concludes that Serbia has missed several key political moments to carry out deep reforms during the process of European integration, despite having significant political capital. She stresses that the problem is not a lack of opportunities, but the failure to implement them in practice – particularly in the areas of the rule of law and the fight against corruption – which is why Serbia is now lagging behind and drifting further away from European Union standards.
(021.rs, 29.04.2026)