Serbia will not be present at the meeting of EU leaders with their Western Balkan counterparts on Wednesday evening to discuss EU enlargement after President Aleksandar Vučić stated late on Tuesday evening that his country would not participate, UNN reports with reference to Politico.
"For the first time in the last 13 or 14 years, neither I nor anyone else will go to this intergovernmental conference. No one will represent the Republic of Serbia, so the Western Balkans will remain without the Republic of Serbia," Vučić told Serbian media.
The Serbian president called it a personal decision, claiming that "by doing so, I am protecting the Republic of Serbia and its interests, because we need to show what we have achieved."
The publication notes that Serbia has made little progress in its bid to join the EU, despite being granted candidate status in 2012. No significant milestones in the accession process have been achieved since 2021.
Vučić's decision came after a dinner in Brussels on December 10 with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, where Vučić said he had proposed that all six Western Balkan countries join the EU simultaneously, rather than through the standard phased accession process.
Serbia has long maintained close ties with Russia, based on historical, cultural, and religious links, as well as close economic cooperation; Serbia is dependent on Moscow for gas supplies. Following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Serbia has faced increasing pressure to distance itself from Moscow but has resisted imposing sanctions, instead seeking to balance its ties with Russia and the European Union, Politico adds.
Serbia's Minister for European Integration, Nemanja Starović, issued a statement in support of Vučić's decision, accusing the EU of "short-sighted unwillingness" to recognize reforms in Serbia and make progress in the accession process — a stance that, he said, sends a negative signal to Serbian citizens. "This signal only fuels anti-European sentiment and discourages those who promote reforms in society," Starović said.
Starović added that Serbia's absence protects "the dignity of our people, as well as the integrity of the accession process and the authority of the European idea in Serbia."
Opposition politicians in Serbia criticized the decision, calling it "an attempt at emotional blackmail, as Vučić is dissatisfied that Albania and Montenegro have made progress and are likely to be the next EU member states," said Aleksandar Radovanović, a member of the Free Citizens Movement.
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Pavle Grbović, a member of the Serbian parliament from the Free Citizens movement, stated that this is "a symptom of deep political cowardice and an attempt to evade uncomfortable questions and messages."
"We have been informed of President Vučić's decision not to attend the Western Balkans summit. We regret this and take note of it," an EU representative said.