This was stated by a spokesperson for the European Commission (EC) to Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL), commenting on the recent visit to Russia by Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic. He recalled that the issue of granting citizenship is within the competence of the Ministry of Interior.
According to this official, the EU is aware of Dacic's official visit to Moscow last week, during which he announced the continuation of intensive cooperation between the interior ministries of the two countries. The visit took place just a week before the early parliamentary elections in Serbia. Dacic stressed that it was planned for March, but was postponed due to his health condition. The EC spokesman stressed that Brussels' position towards partners, including candidate countries such as Serbia, has always been clear.
"Relations with Russia cannot be business as usual, neither with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's regime nor in light of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the unprovoked and unjustified war," he told REL.
The spokesperson stated that Brussels wants to consider Serbia a reliable European partner in terms of principles, values, security and shared prosperity, adding that Serbia must convince the EU of its strategic orientation.
"Therefore, Serbia should prioritize efforts to gradually align with the EU's common foreign and security policy positions, including sanctions against Russia," the EC spokesperson said.
According to him, Serbia should also refrain from actions and statements that contradict the EU's foreign policy stance. Earlier in the day, the EC's spokesperson for enlargement, Guillaume Mercier, also spoke about relations between the EU and Serbia. At the regular press conference, Mercier stressed that progress on the European path requires "truly credible commitment, proven by concrete actions", and that Brussels needs to see progress in reforms.
"What I can say is that we remain fully committed to Serbia's progress on its European path. Therefore, we must continue this constructive engagement and we will do everything for Serbia to progress. As I said, it is important for Serbia to take steps in a number of areas to accelerate its European path," Mercier declared.
Serbia's EU accession negotiations have been stalled for almost five years. Serbia opened the final chapter of its accession negotiations in December 2021. Two months later, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, while Serbia refused to join the EU's sanctions against the Kremlin. This was the main reason for its stalling on the path to EU membership. Meanwhile, the rule of law situation has deteriorated, further complicating Serbia's efforts to break the decades-long impasse.
Once one of the leading countries in the accession process, Serbia has gradually lost ground on the path of European integration compared to other countries. Montenegro is currently the country most likely to become a future EU member, followed by Albania.
The last serious attempt to get Serbia out of the impasse was made in July. At that time, some member states considered that Serbia should be allowed to open Chapter 3, but the necessary consensus was not reached. According to REL information from diplomatic sources, the states that supported the continuation of Belgrade's European path abandoned these efforts in September. This happened after the events related to the death and burial of Ratko Mladic, convicted of war crimes. Early parliamentary elections are being held in Serbia on Sunday, October 25.
The European Union, once a strategic goal of the country, has almost disappeared from the election campaign. Only the “Europe Serbia” list has built its campaign on EU membership and sanctions against Russia, while “United Serbia”, the ruling party’s list, and the Student List have largely avoided the topic. The right-wing Eurosceptic lists openly oppose membership, while most of the competing lists, including the protesting students, oppose sanctions against Russia./REL
