Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the European Union (EU) has never supported Serbia the way it now supports Ukraine, which was granted candidate status within a year of its application.
I have nothing against Ukrainians, but the EU’s level of support for Ukraine, granting it EU candidate status within a year from its application and potentially starting membership talks next year, shows to us such political support has never been there for us, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the Financial Times (FT).
The daily noted that Kyiv applied for membership in February 2022, days after the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, and was granted candidate status four months later, while Serbia had to wait more than four years after applying to start membership talks.
It said that Serbia’s negotiations with the EU are currently bogged down over several issues, most notably Belgrade’s failure to normalize relations with Kosovo. In addition to this, Serbia is also the only Western Balkan nation that has not imposed sanctions against Russia, “which has further slowed down its membership prospects.”
The daily reported that European Council president Charles Michel recently said the EU and the Western Balkans states could be ready for expansion in 2030, but that some leaders in the region are doubtful of this.
The Financial Times recalled that yet another unsuccessful meeting within the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue was held Thursday in Brussels following which EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “without normalization, there will not be a European future for either Kosovo or Serbia”.
Vucic told the daily that the delays were not reflecting the reality in Serbia, which he argued was “in much better shape than Romania and Bulgaria were in 2007 when they joined the EU.”
He also blamed the EU’s declining ability to absorb new members.
We have heard about 2025 (as the accession date), now it’s 2030, who knows what will happen in the next seven years, FT quoted Vucic as saying. The absorption power of the EU is not bigger than it was. You have 10 net contributors and 17 countries that are taking their money. Neither would like to have more members on their payment roll, he added.
(Danas, 19.09.2023)
https://www.danas.rs/vesti/politika/vucic-evropska-unija-srbija/