After the European Parliament adopted a resolution containing the most negative assessments of reforms in Serbia so far, Belgrade is set to face even harsher criticism from Brussels.
On 4 November, the European Commission will publish enlargement reports for all candidate countries. According to information obtained by N1’s correspondent from the EU, the report on Serbia will be the most unfavourable since the start of the membership negotiations, N1 reports.
The main criticisms will focus on setbacks in the areas of democracy, fundamental rights, and media freedom.
N1 sources stress that Brussels is aware of certain steps forward, such as activities related to forming the new REM Council, adopting media laws, and beginning the revision of the electoral register. However, they point out that “progress only exists when reforms are fully implemented.” A particular issue remains Serbia’s poor alignment with the EU’s foreign policy, especially regarding sanctions against Russia.
Although the overall percentage of alignment is considered when drafting the report, the Serbian government’s “tricks” to inflate that percentage by aligning with decisions unrelated to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine will not go unnoticed.
According to N1 sources, the European Commission believes that “sitting on two chairs is no longer possible” and that the time has come for Belgrade to clearly determine whether its strategic priority lies with the European Union or Moscow.
N1 also reports that, for the first time, the European Commission will not propose opening Cluster 3 in its enlargement report, as it had done in previous years.
A more reserved wording is expected, confirming that Serbia remains “technically ready” to open that cluster, but without recommending that the European Council proceed with it.
According to N1’s EU correspondents, the greatest obstacle to opening Cluster 3 was created by Serbia’s own government.
At the end of last year, Belgrade sent member states a non-paper – a list of reform steps the Serbian government committed to implementing in order to open that cluster. However, Brussels concluded that less than half of those promises had been fulfilled.
The enlargement report will be published on 4 November, and N1’s sources state that the tone towards Serbia will be “significantly harsher” than in previous years.
(Nova, 29.10.2025)