Serbia gained the standing of an official candidate for EU entry in 2012, and opened talks on areas of alignment with the bloc, generally known as “clusters,” in 2014.
Requested whether or not Serbia’s pro-Moscow stance is complicating its EU membership drive, she mentioned, “It doesn’t make issues simpler for us, which is greater than apparent, since we have now not opened any new cluster within the EU integration course of since December 2021.”
In the meantime, different Western Balkan international locations corresponding to Albania and Montenegro have made progress of their EU accession talks, whereas Serbia’s negotiations have stalled, Brnabić mentioned. This isn’t as a result of Serbia isn’t prepared, she mentioned, however as a result of the nation isn’t “aligned absolutely with the EU’s Overseas and Safety Coverage.”
The previous prime minister additionally feels that the “narrative” of Serbia’s democratic backsliding is unfair, contending that the nation is being singled out for a similar purpose.
“We noticed, for instance, apparently, tear gasoline and water cannons used towards protesters in Albania, however nobody mentioned a phrase,” Brnabić mentioned, referring to current opposition-led protests which resulted in clashes between protestors and police. “And why is that? In my opinion, as a result of Albania has aligned 100% with widespread overseas and safety coverage, after which, , you [the EU] flip a blind eye to something”.
“Whereas in case of Serbia, you do push to fairly a big extent false narratives and also you do apply a unique sort of commonplace” she added.
As reported by POLITICO, the EU is poised to slash as much as € 1.5 billion in pre-accession funds to Serbia over the nation’s backsliding on democratic requirements.
