Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić has presented a national development strategy called Serbia 2030, outlining point-by-point the government’s goals pertaining to maintaining peace and stability, economy, education, EU accession, healthcare and infrastructure development.
Vučić explained that the plan is divided into 11 points, that not everything will be presented now, and that members of the Government of Serbia will speak about important sectors in the coming days.
Military/EU accession
The strategy goal pertains to peace and stability.
In the context of such global developments, the president stated that Serbia’s main task in the next nine to ten years is to preserve internal peace and stability.
“That is the only guarantee that peace will be maintained; otherwise we would become prey with unbelievable ease. You ask who would attack? Anyone! In today’s world you do not even have to explain which country – they strike whoever they want. Did you notice the significance of the UN Security Council session regarding the attack on Iran? None of you heard about it. I received the materials, and I had more important things to do than read political ramblings. The thing we rely on, the United Nations, has lost its meaning, and only the law of the stronger now prevails. Others abandoned that principle long ago, although we will always respect international law,” he said.
The president then added that Serbia is currently carrying out one of its largest military modernisation efforts, emphasising that the country is not preparing for any conflict, but rather acting in order to preserve peace and stability.
The second point, or goal, is Serbia’s path to EU membership, within which the president spoke about politics and the military.
“In accordance with this, we will preserve the position of military neutrality. It has not changed despite great pressure, and it will not change in the next ten years. It has brought many good things to our country, although we have also paid a price, as we could not obtain certain financial resources,” he noted.
He assessed that we must strengthen our army, build trust and speak with everyone. “We have always had good relations with Russia and China; we should tactically and strategically build good relations with NATO countries as well, and we must not allow ourselves to become victims of their attacks again,” the president pointed out.
Speaking about political issues, Vučić said that “our answer in the past was that we would become members of the EU”.
“I will speak completely openly and honestly. At this moment, the EU does not have sufficient capacity to implement major strategic changes for itself, and that was one of the reasons why I said it was important that we become part of the EU as soon as possible in a more limited form. That does not mean that we are giving up full membership. We should become part of the single market and have Schengen rules apply to us. We do not necessarily have to gain access to large financial funds at this moment. We must be rational,” the president believes.
Energy sector
The president then stated that there will be no import of crude oil through Croatia and that dependence on that pipeline will have to be changed.
“And once again, Europe will pay the highest price. Where do I see Serbia in 2030–2035? I see it as a country that is progressing, not as quickly as it should, and not because of the people in power, but because we are not ready to change ourselves completely. Before we demand changes from others, we must demand them from ourselves. We will establish systemic foundations and be ahead of countries in the region, especially in matters of artificial intelligence. Today we are 39th in the world, which is incredible for a small country,” he said.
“We have diesel reserves of 418,000 tonnes, which is enough for 74 days if we import nothing. We have 94,860 tonnes of petrol for 71 days — the reserves are sufficient. Banatski Dvor is completely full when it comes to gas, around 400 million, and we have another 155 million in Hungary. In total we have 550 million of gas, which today costs 548 dollars per thousand cubic metres. We will build major projects, including a gas pipeline and an oil pipeline. In the period from 2028 to 2035, we will invest 14.4 billion in the energy sector. We will build gas interconnections towards North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and, as things stand, probably also towards Croatia,” he noted.
Economy/Living standard
He emphasised that today we are living better than at any time in Serbian history, adding that this is primarily reflected in how life in Serbia has changed.
The third goal concerns living standards, wages and pensions. Showing slides, the president recalled that in 2012 the average salary was 366 euros; in December 2025, it was 1,057 euros, and the plan is for it to reach 1,700 euros by 2030. “These are dramatic and incredible changes in just about twenty years. Almost unbelievable,” the president pointed out. He also reminded the audience that the average pension in 2012 was 204 euros, in December 2025 it was 484 euros, and by 2030, he expects an average pension of 750 euros.
Healthcare
The fourth point of the plan discussed by Vučić concerns healthcare. He emphasised that “today we spend around five billion euros on healthcare” and assessed that these costs are enormous.
“Almost no country in Europe spends proportionally on healthcare as much as we do. In the previous period, we mostly did everything incorrectly, accustomed to thinking that it belongs to us and that we do not have to pay for it,” the president stated and underlined that the current healthcare model is unsustainable and expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of courage.
“From 2028 to 2035, we will invest 2.5 billion euros solely in infrastructure projects. But we must change things in healthcare. You cannot work for two hours and receive a salary as if you worked ten. We will also have to pay more attention to the interior of Serbia, not only to three or four large cities. We must resolve Kragujevac, but also take care of Smederevska Palanka. When you enter the unrenovated section there you ask yourself whether it is a public toilet or a hospital.
Work must also accelerate in Bor and Užice. People must see that we care about them, rather than everyone coming to Belgrade, because every place in Serbia is equally important. We are working on and completing the University Clinical Centre of Serbia – Belgrade, Niš – another 157 million is going to the Clinical Centre in Niš. Another 131 million for the Clinical Centre, and 192 million for Kragujevac. Enormous funds are going there so that people know. I am also speaking about equipment. Mobile clinics and mobile pharmacies are very important. We have elderly people who need help the most, and some doctors do not want to go to villages and work,” Vučić claims.
He also listed places that “will have renovated hospitals” – Bor, Vršac, Žagubica, Zaječar, Melenci, Kladovo, Negotin, Opovo, Knjaževac, Smederevo, Čoka, Užice and Čačak – which will receive significant funds for renovation.
Education sector
He went on to say that education is his greatest concern, which is the fifth point in the programme. “We started well, and then we became frightened by meaningless criticism. If our ideas have been reduced to shortening lessons to 30 minutes…” the president began. He stated that around 220 million euros will be spent on 75 projects in education and emphasised that, in the field of education, dual education is of crucial importance.
Artificial intelligence
The sixth goal is artificial intelligence. Vučić stated that it is necessary to establish not only specialised departments but also faculties dedicated to artificial intelligence because, as he emphasised, our lives will depend on it and no nation in the future will be able to develop without artificial intelligence. He said that AI is becoming a factor of production and that the economic performance of a country increasingly depends on energy, computing capacity, data, their availability and automation.
He then added that, by 2030, widespread economic automation of between 30 and 50 per cent is expected in the economy, as well as that AI will become part of most office jobs, while robots will reduce the need for physical labour in logistics and manufacturing.
Public infrastructure
The next goal concerns public utilities infrastructure.
“We must build 30,000 kilometres of water supply pipes. In Šabac, 41 areas have no water and people rely on their own wells. In Kragujevac alone, there are 690 kilometres of sewage pipes. For water supply, 1.5 billion euros has been allocated, which are enormous investments, larger than ever before, but still insufficient,” the president told the relevant ministers present in the audience.
“There have been 622 kilometres of completed motorways and express roads, and at this moment 380 kilometres are under construction. The Morava Corridor, 40 kilometres, the Valjevo bypass, Sremska Rača–Kuzmin, Slepčević–Badovinci, the bypass around Kragujevac, around Novi Sad, Belgrade–Zrenjanin–Novi Sad… We expect that we will build even more motorways by 2035. With 622 kilometres and with these additional 578 kilometres we have proportionally broken all records in Europe; no one is even close to us,” the president pointed out.
Agriculture
As the final goal, the president singled out agriculture, with which he said he is the least satisfied. “Not because someone protests or gives in to pressure groups – whenever there is no work there will be protests. What concerns me is the absence of a clear strategy and vision for the use of artificial intelligence, since we are now spending more money than before and still have the same problems. We have resolved nothing regarding irrigation. It is a disgrace how little we irrigate. The cheapest possible loans must be provided for this. Whoever wants to will take them; whoever does not, does not have to,” he said.
Analysis and commentary
Although quite ambitious, considering that 2030 is only four years away, the strategy has been mainly branded as unrealistic and unattainable.
The Bureau for Social Research (BIRODI) states that the Serbia 2030 strategy is not the result of a broader social dialogue, but was presented as a political and development programme of the executive branch, which is coordinated in an unconstitutional manner by the President of the Republic. The absence of a public debate and the lack of participation by various social actors in defining strategic goals represents an additional indicator of the democratic deficit in contemporary Serbia.
The strategy is primarily a strategy of investment and modernisation, rather than a strategy for strengthening democratic institutions. Without strong and independent institutions, an efficient judiciary and transparent mechanisms of political accountability, economic development and growth will not be sustainable. For the sustainability of economic growth, the priorities of institutional reforms should be clearly defined, particularly in the areas of the rule of law, the fight against corruption, strengthening parliamentary and judicial oversight of the executive branch, and increasing the transparency of public policies.
Commenting on the plan presented by Vučić, economist and vice-president of the Party of Freedom and Justice, Dušan Nikezić, told Nova that it is merely a list of wishful thinking. “With another list of wishful thinking, Vučić has only confirmed that even 14 years in power is not enough for people in Serbia to begin living better, so he is trying to buy a few more years with false promises,” Nikezić stated.
He recalled that Vučić had already announced a Marshall Plan in 2013, but that what followed, he says, was a reduction in wages and pensions.
“Then, in 2019, he promoted the Plan for the Revival of Serbia 2020–2025, and what we got was the highest inflation in the 21st century, then EXPO and ‘Leap into the Future 2027’, with 323 corrupt deals without tenders, and on Saturday he announced a new borrowing of 48 billion euros, from which citizens will once again receive nothing. In the meantime, we have more than a million fewer people, the public debt has tripled, inflation has eaten away at wages and pensions, and corruption is literally killing,” says Nikezić.
Nikezić believes that what matters to people is not how high the nominal salary in euros will be, but what they will be able to buy with that salary. Experience has shown, he says, that the prices of basic foodstuffs, electricity and other utilities have often risen faster than wages and pensions.
The Serbia Centre Party (SRCE) assessed that the strategy is just part of his campaign for prime minister and an attempt to remain in power. “While institutions are being suffocated by political pressure, citizens are being beaten, prosecutors are disciplined in the chambers of the Security Information Agency, universities are being destroyed, and disobedient professors and teachers are being dismissed, the regime once again resorts to a tried and tested recipe – promising a golden age in the distant future in order to conceal the dictatorship in which Serbia lives,” the SRCE party stated.
On the other hand, former Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlović assessed today that the Serbia 2030 strategy takes every citizen into account, adding that Serbia has begun to keep pace with the development of modern technologies and artificial intelligence.
“This plan does not concern only one part of the population structure, but concerns everyone and every part of Serbia. Additionally, we have begun keeping pace with modern technologies, artificial intelligence and new technologies. We have had a data centre in Kragujevac for quite some time, for several years now, and we are talking about new data centres,” Mihajlović told Tanjug.
(Politika, Danas, N1, Nova, 08.03.2026)
https://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/737089/najvazniji-cilj-je-da-sacuvamo-mir-i-stabilnost