The EU does have other more effective options to pressure Serbia into compliance which it hasn’t used. Slowing down the accession process is not in itself a sufficiently effective threat, as Serbia knows that it will not be allowed to join until it resolves its dispute with Kosovo, which declared independence from it in 2008. However, in October, Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, affirmed that Serbia’s EU accession process is stalling because it is not aligning its foreign policy with Brussels’s. It has opened 22 out of the 35 negotiations chapters and it has continually reiterated that its top priority is to become an EU member. Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009 and has been in accession talks since 2014. ![]() Yet, in the current polarised geopolitical climate, neutrality is becoming increasingly untenable, as EU pressure continues to mount. The Serbian government has defended its position, saying it is not in the nation’s interest to choose sides. As a result, it has faced heavy criticism and pressure from EU officials who have made it clear that the country, as an EU candidate state, is expected to align its foreign policy with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, including by imposing sanctions on Russia. However, there has been one country that has been refusing to pick sides: Serbia.īelgrade is seen as Moscow’s last remaining friend in Europe, as it decided not to join the EU sanctions regime. As the war in Ukraine rages on, most of Europe has united in an anti-Russia camp.
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