Former Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia to the United States and Switzerland, Milan St. Protic, said that the current government is deliberately obstructing the process of Serbia’s accession to the European Union (EU).
In an interview with Beta news agency, Protic said that it was no surprise that Serbia hadn’t opened a single negotiating chapter on the path to EU membership in the last year and a half.
“Serbia has not made an effort to meet the prescribed conditions for opening chapters, so the epilogue was clear. The key element in Serbia’s accession to the EU, namely the normalization of relations with Pristina, has been at a standstill for a long time,” Protic warned and added that the current “state of affairs” was good for both sides, Serbia and the EU.
“Overwhelmed by internal challenges, the EU is not ready for enlargement at the moment. The current government in Serbia is not particularly in favour of EU membership. Hence this status quo,” Protić said.
When asked to comment on the fact that, since 2016, Serbia has not complied with any of the European Commission’s recommendations regarding the conditions for the EU membership, Protic said that the current government has never been sincere in its commitment to the EU.
“Even less so does the government truly believe in the principles on which the EU is based – democratic principles, the notion of individual liberty and human rights are alien to the Serbian government. It does not believe in political changes and fair elections,” he said.
Asked whether the Serbian authorities have practically given up on the proclaimed goal of preparing Serbia for the EU membership, Protic said that that was never their goal.
“They declared this goal in 2012 to win the election and come to power. After that, it was just bad theatre and camouflage. Basically, they are all anti-European, either out of ignorance, complexity, or prejudice,” Protic concluded.
(Nova, 21.02.2021)
https://nova.rs/vesti/politika/protic-vlast-u-srbiji-namerno-opstruise-evrointegracije/
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