The European Commission has assessed N1 that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's visit to Moscow on May 9th represents the wrong signal and is "not the place to show support for peace."
European Commission spokeswoman Marta Kos said that relations with Vladimir Putin's regime "cannot be the same as before" due to the aggression against Ukraine.
"The EU has sent a very clear message to all partners, including candidate countries like Serbia: there can be no normalisation of relations with the Putin regime while its unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine continues. Moscow is not a place to show support for peace," the Commission's press service wrote in a response to N1, as reported by the media outlet.
The European Commission states that it "strongly regrets" the Serbian leadership's participation in the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, because, as they say, Russia is using the day for propaganda.
Brussels also says that it expects Serbia to "convincingly prove its strategic orientation towards the EU" and to clearly demonstrate its commitment to European values.
When asked by N1 whether Serbia will soon open a new cluster in negotiations with the EU, as announced by Vučić, the Commission replied that specific decisions are made by member states, but that reforms are a prerequisite for progress in the accession process.
"The accession process requires visible and convincing progress, but also the engagement of the entire society. It should be a national project," they stated in a response to N1, emphasizing that the reforms that Serbia must implement include the fight against corruption, an independent judiciary, media freedoms, better electoral conditions, and the fight against disinformation.
Regarding the letter sent by the Group of European Socialists and Democrats to Commissioner Kos, the Commission for N1 confirms that it was received, but not whether it was responded to.
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