Milivojević: Montenegro and Albania are far ahead, Serbia has unfortunately taken the opposite path from European integration

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's initiative to have the Western Balkan countries join the European Union (EU) as a package has been met with opposition in Podgorica.

The Serbian opposition also believes that such a thing is a utopian idea, with one of its leaders, Srđan Milivojević, telling Vijesti Television that it was an unsuccessful attempt by Vučić to mask his failures in reforms.

However, yesterday's decision by France to block Montenegro from closing two chapters in negotiations with the EU sheds possible new light on who will be the first in the region to join the EU and when.

The recent statement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that Brussels should move to a new phase in its relations with Podgorica, which includes working on the Agreement on Montenegro's Accession to the EU, indirectly meant a rejection of Vučić's idea that the Western Balkan countries should join the EU as a package, even though Montenegro has made the most progress on its path to Brussels.

Vučić's idea, as a reminder, was immediately negatively reacted to in Podgorica, first by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, and then by President Jakov Milatović.

The president of one of the opposition parties in Serbia also claims for Television Vijesti that there is no one listening to her even in Brussels.

"Montenegro and Albania have come a long way on that path. Serbia, unfortunately, has taken a wrong turn, the opposite path from European integration. And that is a utopian idea that has no basis in reality or facts," said Srđan Milivojević, leader of the Democratic Party.

However, yesterday's decision by France to block the closing of two chapters in our negotiations with the EU sheds new light on the path of the entire region in European integration. Serbia and France have been cooperating excellently in recent years, so Vučić bought 12 Rafale fighter jets from the French, a French company has been the concessionaire of the Belgrade airport for years, and in two days Serbia should sign a contract on the construction of the first phase of the Belgrade metro, also with a French company.

"That's why someone will be there before us... Slowly...First jump, then say hop," Vučić said.

Meanwhile, media in Serbia, which is critical of Vučić's policies, reported his gaffe from Brussels, when, arriving for a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antoni Košta, he forgot that the microphones were already turned on. Von der Leyen informed him that he had received a message from Moscow, which she ignored with the words "Okay, let's wait..."

And while, unlike Belgrade, Podgorica strictly follows Brussels' foreign policy towards Russia, it still has a lot of work to do in European integration. Milivojević, however, has no doubt that Montenegro will be the first EU member state.

"I don't think so, I firmly believe in it. Montenegro has been recognized as a future member of the EU. And that is very good for Montenegro, for all its citizens and for the region, it is also good for Serbia. I want to congratulate the citizens of Montenegro for their persistence on this European path," said Milivojević.

This will happen despite the obstacles that Vučić poses not only to the region's European integration, but also to normal life in the Western Balkans, Milivojević concluded.