Zejt: The EU is giving Vučić a free hand, and he is rapidly leading Serbia into authoritarianism

From the European Commission's point of view, Serbia is the most important country in the Western Balkans and if it succeeds in joining the EU, it will bring the remaining five, smaller candidate countries with it, but the bitter reality is that Serbia is moving further and further towards authoritarianism and this process is accelerating, while the European Union remains stubbornly silent, writes the German weekly Die Zeit today.

The weekly writes that protests have been going on in Serbia for months due to the pervasive uncontrolled corruption, blatant mismanagement of the economy and state arbitrariness, and that the protests have been peaceful for months, but that "in recent weeks, scenes of violence have been seen more and more frequently."

"Police officers beating, hooligans-beaters released from the chain, dozens of arrests, dismissals of professors who participate in the protests - and all this is accompanied by a media propaganda apparatus that smears the protesters as enemies of the state, lazy people and drug addicts. It has become more than clear that the Serbian president is now playing the strong hand card in order to remain in power," writes Zeit.

The newspaper writes that in March this year, Vučić met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antoni Košta, and that afterwards, although their tone was not very friendly, they praised the reforms in Serbia. "After that, Vučić was able to return to Belgrade peacefully, with the knowledge that the EU leadership would not let him fall. And nothing has changed in that regard to this day," Zeit writes.

"This is also surprising in that Vučić has been systematically undermining democracy in Serbia for years, and he first came to power in 2013. This has not gone unnoticed by the EU, at least one institution has sounded the alarm - the European Parliament," writes Zeit.

When asked why they are so persistent in holding on to Vučić, the same answer has been coming from circles around the Commission for years: that he is the only leader in Serbia who is capable of doing business, and therefore of implementing agreements.

"However, Vučić has done nothing to date to resolve the conflict with Kosovo, which is one of the key demands of the EU. And one can justifiably doubt that he really wants to bring Serbia into the EU. And he has been courting Chinese strongman Xi Jinping too willingly and for too long," Zeit writes.

"Yet, the EU leadership continues to give Vučić a free hand. Even now, when thugs are raiding universities hunting students, when police officers in combat gear are beating protesters with batons," the weekly states.

The reason why Europe is silent can, according to the newspaper, be explained by economic interests when looked at more closely. Zejt writes that Serbia is an important location for the so-called nearshoring, i.e. the relocation of European production to nearby neighboring countries. In addition to these economic reasons, there are also security-political reasons, Zejt writes, citing the purchase of French Rafale military aircraft as an example.

And finally, Serbia has the largest lithium reserves in Europe, writes Cajt, recalling that the planned lithium exploitation in Serbia in 2021 sparked the first major protests. On June 4 of this year, when mass protests were already underway in Serbia, the European Commission included its lithium reserves on a list of 13 strategically important projects with rare minerals in third countries. "This is a political victory for Vučić at a time when his power is being shaken to its foundations," writes Cajt.

"All these eulogies should also be seen in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Serbia has always had good relations with Russia. True, it sends ammunition to Ukraine, although it is not entirely clear how much and what exactly. But it does not participate in sanctions against Russia. And as an EU candidate country, it would have to join the EU's foreign policy," writes Zeit.

"Given such EU policy, it should not be surprising that there are no European flags at mass protests," the weekly notes.

In its commentary, Nedjeljnik quotes the director of the European Fund for the Balkans, Aleksandra Tomanić, who, when asked whether the EU has lost Serbia, says that the question should be posed differently. "Namely, the events in Serbia show that the EU has lost itself. People are taking to the streets for democracy, the rule of law, free media, that is, for European values," Vučić responds with threats and force, and Europe remains silent, said Tomanić.