The European Union is once again opening its doors to the Western Balkans, and European Council President António Costa clearly states – the time has come for Serbia to demonstrate determination in reforms. While encouraging messages about the region's European perspective are arriving from Brussels, Belgrade responds reservedly but resolutely, stating that it is aware of the tasks ahead.
The European perspective of Serbia and the Western Balkan countries is once again in the focus of the European Union, said the President of the European Council at the beginning of his tour of the region. Since taking office in December last year, Costa has, as he says, spoken four times with officials from the region, striving to strengthen trust in the process of European integration.
"We have positive momentum for enlargement, which is a signal to Serbia to take advantage of it. We remain strongly committed to Serbia's accession to the European Union as a stable and prosperous country. I am pleased to hear that European integration is a priority, but now concrete actions and reforms are needed," he underlined at a press conference after meeting with the President of Serbia.
In that context, he pointed out that the key steps for opening Cluster 3 – which relates to fundamental rights – are media freedom, the fight against corruption, and the improvement of electoral legislation. He particularly emphasised the importance of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as alignment with the EU's common foreign and security policy, including a clear condemnation of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
"I know that many have lost trust in the process, but I have come to personally assure you that the future of Serbia is in the EU. The ball is now in your court. Please, let's not waste time, because the future will not wait," Costa conveyed.
That the enlargement has been set as a clear political priority and that there is a personal commitment to revitalise the EU's engagement with the Western Balkans, including Serbia, was confirmed to us by the European Council in an interview for EUpravo zato.
"The EU is ready to make concrete progress, but further momentum depends on Serbia's readiness to implement key reforms (especially in the areas of the rule of law, electoral reform, the fight against corruption, and media freedom), normalise relations with neighbours, and align with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. In this sense, the EU is ready to provide strong political signals and support, but the ball is still in Serbia's court," they told our portal.
What is the position of official Belgrade?
The Serbian Minister for European Integration responded to these messages from Brussels, stating that Belgrade harbours no illusions about the speed of the process but is focused on fulfilling concrete obligations.
"Accession to the European Union is not a sprint," said Minister for European Integration Nemanja Starović to our portal, explaining that Serbia is focused on implementing the concrete steps it has committed to, from the selection of the REM Council to amendments to electoral and media legislation.
"This is necessary to meet all the prerequisites for opening the third cluster of negotiation chapters by the end of the Polish presidency of the EU Council. Our ambition is to be ready by the end of the year to open the second and fifth clusters as well, which would bring us significantly closer to the end of the marathon race that the EU accession process unfortunately resembles," he added.
This readiness of Serbia was also confirmed by President Vučić after a meeting with a high-ranking EU official, saying that certain things have already been done "which many were sceptical would be done and that everything discussed will soon be completed in parliament."
Vučić conveyed that they discussed all important issues, which, as he said, are not always and necessarily easy for our country.
"So, about the necessity of dialogue with Priština, maintaining regional peace and stability. We talked, I said that Serbia is always ready for talks, that we have never avoided dialogue and that we believe it is the only way problems can be solved. We also talked about the necessity of implementing reforms in our country," Vučić said.
He added that he discussed three areas with President Kosta and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in March.
"So, one is a set of media laws. Within that set, we have completed the law on public information and received the green light from the European Commission. The law on electronic media has already received the green light from the European Commission. There are still some minor details regarding the protection of the rights of viewers, listeners, and readers in the Law on Public Services, and then it will be fully ready for one of the three very important points concerning media laws," said Vučić.
Regarding the law on the regulatory agency and the entire process of electing members of the REM Council, he stated that the competition started on 8 May and that applications can be submitted until 23 May, after which the election of members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) will commence.
The third thing is what we expect either today or in the next two days is a positive opinion from the EU concerning the acceptance of ODIHR's recommendations related to the electoral law and the electoral process itself, including the voter register, the electoral register," said Vučić.
