Political analysts in Serbia still do not believe that the EU will impose sanctions against Serbia, because there is no overall agreement among the 27 Member States and because they need Vučić as the main negotiator with Pristina, reports N1.
“You cannot hide behind formalities such as recognizing (Kosovo’s independence) or not recognizing. There are plenty of ways you can share your knowledge, how you can cooperate and contribute to the full investigation, because what happened on September 24 (armed conflict in Banjska) is so serious that it must be fully explained, otherwise, there will be consequences,” said European Commission spokesman Peter Stano.
A set of measures that will be detrimental to the Serbian government has already been prepared, says the member of the European Parliament, Viola fon Kramon, to the surprise of some of his colleagues.
“I haven’t heard anything about such measures, so it came as a surprise to me too,” says the member of the European Parliament Klemen Grošelj.
Nikola Burazer from the European Western Balkans says that “certainly there are forces that are in favour of imposing sanctions, but there is a very big difference between one group or a few members of the EP advocating for it, or the entire European Union making such a decision”.
“We should not engage in premature, ill-conceived activities until we have all the facts on the table,” said MEP Grošelj.
“As for the anti-government measures, at the first level, it will probably be political sanctions. Reduction of diplomatic activities and relations with Serbia, i.e. financial sanctions that are targeted at people, at individuals who are responsible for what happened,” says Grošelj.
The editor of the European Western Balkans portal does not believe in such an outcome.
“The mood in Brussels towards Serbia, Vučić and his government has definitely changed after the incident in Banjska, but I think that the EU is still a long way from formal sanctions,” Burazer believes.
(021.rs, 10.l0.2023)
This post is also available in: Italiano