Announcement by the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić that he will propose to EU leaders that the entire Western Balkans simultaneously enter that community, represents his way of fighting the internal problems that are shaking Serbia, but also hiding the fact that he is "uncomfortably squeezed in a wedge between the USA and Russia", and that he is therefore trying to preserve the image of a statesman who is welcome in the world "on the European field".
"Vijesti"'s interlocutors said this in response to the question - why is Vučić now raising the topic of simultaneous membership of the entire Western Balkans in the EU if Serbia is hardly doing anything in terms of integration into that community.
The day before yesterday, and in anticipation of last night's meeting with the President of the European Commission (EC), Vučić Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Antonio Kosta in Brussels, said that the entry of the Western Balkans as a whole into the EU is the best idea.
"If someone is left out, what will you do with those countries? And I know everyone is talking about harmonisation, but this is not just about the future of the region, but about the future of Europe. If we were all accepted together, without exception, everyone would feel better - both Albanians and Bosnians... I hear only good reactions to this idea, and I will tell that to Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen," Vučić said at the Beltalks Forum - Belgrade Economic Talks, adding that Serbia "has already done a lot of things" and that "it must progress on its EU path."
Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic He responded to Vučić the day before yesterday by saying that the entire Western Balkans has a place in the EU, but that Montenegro will be a member from 2028.
"I agree that the EU should be the final destination for the entire Western Balkans. However, we will be waiting for you there from 2028, and we encourage you to really hurry up and speed up the other candidates from the region!", Spajić wrote on the X network.
Member of the Spajić Movement Europe Now Miodrag Laković, he said yesterday: "Serbia will negotiate with us as an EU member, and we will then act in a neighborly and brotherly manner."
Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric he replied to Spajić last night that his statement only confirms Vučić's "thesis... that EU enlargement succeeds only if equal cooperation strengthens and if the entire region develops together."
"It's good to have ambitions, but it's better for all of us when we lobby for each other, both publicly and privately, and not against each other... The willingness of some politicians in the region to show that they are giving up their relatives and neighbors will not speed up anyone's path to the EU," said Đurić, adding that Brussels and the member states have their own interests, based on which they determine the pace of membership and "they will not speed it up because of our willingness... to give up on each other."
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Spokesperson EK Guillaume Mercia He said yesterday that Serbia's accession to the European Union is a merit-based process without predetermined deadlines, and that Brussels still stands by its position from the November enlargement report for Serbia, one of the worst in the last decade.
Internal and regional use
Diplomat and professor of international relations at Boston University Vesko Garcevic, told "Vijesti" that Vučić's idea has at least a double character - one internal, and the other regional. He assessed that Vučić and Belgrade know very well that this idea will not be supported and that the chances of its realization are small, but that, regardless, it has a certain importance within Serbia.
He explained that in a time of crisis and more than a year of protests in Serbia (due to the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people), such initiatives and meetings with EC officials should present Vučić as someone who is still a desirable partner, with whom the EU talks, who represents the EU's positions - and not only represents, but also comes up with certain initiatives.
Garčević stated that the second, deeper context of this idea is when it comes to the internal situation in Serbia - the crisis currently unfolding around the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) and its potential nationalization, resale or change of ownership.
"Where Serbia found itself in a very difficult situation - that it has almost no support anywhere and is playing the European card. This should actually send a symbolic message - that Serbia has an alternative in this regard, and that this alternative is also in the EU institutions," he claims.
When it comes to the regional context, the interlocutor assessed that Vučić's idea definitely does not benefit the Western Balkans, but rather against these countries.
"Because this hinders those who should be first in line to enter the EU - primarily Montenegro and Albania. And in that respect, it is very much designed to, in a way, undermine their chances of entering," Garčević underlines.
Representatives of Montenegrin parties close to Vučić, primarily the former Democratic Front (DF) Andrije Mandić i Milan Knežević, did not respond yesterday to a question from "Vijesti" about what they think about the idea of the President of Serbia.
The EU Delegation in Podgorica did not respond to the newspaper's questions about Vučić's proposal.
Foreign policy collapse
Journalist at the Belgrade weekly "Radar" Vera Didanović, assessed for "Vijesti" that Vučić is trying to act proactively and interested in EU integration, all in order to, he claims, hide the fact that his foreign policy, which is based on "four pillars" (the USA, Russia, China and the EU), including the European one - has collapsed.
"The fact that he is uncomfortably squeezed in the clinch between the US and Russia is difficult to hide, so on the European stage he is trying to preserve the image of a statesman who is welcome in the world. And for that he needs some kind of breakthrough, because standard promises are no longer enough - neither for his Brussels interlocutors, nor for the domestic public that is watching," said Didanović.
She stated that Serbia's European integration process has been stagnant for a long time, primarily because Vučić's government, she claims, has never been interested in joining the EU, but only in the process itself and the funds that the "European path" makes possible.
"The essential changes that are being sought, especially in the areas of the judiciary and the media, would mean Vučić's fall from power, and that is why they have not happened and will not happen," Didanović pointed out.
The interviewee said that Serbia's stagnation on the EU path had long been visible in EC reports, but that it had now become visible to the Serbian public, as well as to the European bureaucracy, which for a long time did not have a critical attitude towards the "Serbian stabilocrat".
"In fact, within the EU itself, there was no readiness for expansion, so Vučić was tolerated with everything - from undemocratic behavior on the domestic front to his unwillingness to align with the EU's policy towards Russia. From Brussels' perspective, this was not a problem until geopolitical reasons led to a new impetus for the enlargement process," she notes.
No praise for "dear Alexander"
Didanović says that, at the same time, the year-long "revolt of Serbian citizens" has led to a change in attitudes towards Vučić, not only in the European Parliament, which had previously passed resolutions critical of the behavior of the Serbian government, but also at a higher level. He recalls that during her last visit to Belgrade, Ursula von der Leyen replaced her former praise for "dear Alexander" with a much harsher tone and the announcement that all the promises she had received would be checked.
"Vučić can only cover up his unwillingness to complete his 'homework' with marketing, or an attempt to promote new 'ideas', especially if it turns out that the transactional approach, such as the promise of lithium, no longer works," the interviewee emphasizes.
The EC's annual report on Serbia, published in early November, made harsh assessments of the situation in the neighboring country. The document states that Serbia has recorded a "dramatic decline" in the areas of the rule of law, media freedom and the fight against corruption, with the assessment that institutions are effectively under party control.
The Commission noted that there was no progress in the judiciary, fundamental rights and public administration, while the fight against corruption and organised crime had only partially progressed.
Since 2014, Serbia has opened 22 out of 35 negotiation chapters in negotiations with the EU, of which only two have been temporarily closed.
Montenegro's accession - a symbolic blow
Answering the question of why it would be detrimental to Vučić if Montenegro were the first to enter the EU, Vesko Garčević replied that the Serbian president would be bothered because the narrative in that country, which both the ruling party and the ruling elite exploit, is that Serbia should be the leader of European integration, that it is far ahead of Montenegro in this regard, and that Montenegro has always, as before, been viewed as "some younger brother who should follow Serbia, and not the other way around."
"Montenegro's entry before Serbia would be a political and symbolic blow to the Vučić government, and also to Serbia," he claims, adding that certain people in Serbia would find it difficult to accept as an objective fact that Montenegro is progressing faster than Serbia on the path to the EU.
Vera Didanović assessed that the announcement of Montenegro's possible imminent entry into the EU is a particular problem for Vučić due to the very close relations between the two countries and the fact that a large number of Serbian citizens see Montenegro as "theirs" or at least as a "little brother".
"In a situation where they have to leave fingerprints and take pictures at the border with Montenegro, even citizens who are 'not interested' in politics will have to understand that Serbia has once again been 'abandoned' and essentially defeated - completely contrary to the propaganda narrative about Serbia as a 'leader in the region'," said Didanović.
Vuković: Forced diplomatic maneuver by Vučić
Ivan Vuković, a member of parliament from the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and chairman of the parliamentary Committee for European Integration, told "Vijesti" that it is likely that this is a forced diplomatic maneuver by Vučić, in a situation where Montenegro, and possibly Albania, are making decisive steps on the path to the EU, while other countries in the region, including Serbia, have been "stuck in place" for years.
"This is convincingly evidenced by the daily assessments of senior European officials, as well as the latest EC reports on the countries of the Western Balkans, which, while positive for us and our Albanian neighbors, are negative for others," said Vuković.
He stated that "it would be great if, in due course, the entire region became part of the EU". In this way, he added, the preconditions would be created for the long-term normalization of political relations in the former Yugoslavia, for its accelerated economic growth and development, legal security for citizens, and general democratic progress.
"At the same time, as long as the accession process depends on the candidate countries' performance on the reform front - including the rule of law, media freedom and respect for the EU's foreign policy priorities - it is clear that Mr. Vučić has nothing to hope for in that regard," Vuković said.
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