European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated yesterday in Brussels that the Serbian authorities should clearly express their strategic orientation and avoid rhetoric against the European Union (EU), warning that they will be significantly stricter on this issue in the future.
Presenting this year's enlargement package, which contains reports on the progress of countries on their path to EU membership, Kos also said at a press conference that Serbia needs to align itself more closely with the EU's foreign and security policy.
She added that all countries in the region are fully aligned with the EU, while Serbia's level, although better than before, is now at 62 percent alignment.
"The Serbian authorities should clearly state what their strategic choice is and avoid rhetoric against the EU. And I will be much stricter on this issue. They should also demonstrate more proactive and objective communication about the process of Serbia's accession to the Union," Kos said.
She said that Serbian authorities "continue to proclaim EU membership as a strategic goal," but that these words "need to be followed by actions."
"Although some positive developments have been recorded recently, for example when it comes to media laws, Serbia needs to make credible progress in a number of areas, primarily to overcome the stalemate in the area of the judiciary and fundamental rights," Kos said at a joint press conference with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kalas.
Kos added that the Serbian authorities should "urgently reverse" the regression in the areas of freedom of speech and academic freedom, and ensure progress in the elections, and that "this is what the citizens of Serbia are also demanding."
The EC stated that polarization in Serbian society has deepened in the context of mass protests taking place across Serbia since November 2024, reflecting citizens' disappointment, among other things, with corruption and a perceived lack of accountability and transparency, along with cases of excessive use of force against protesters and pressure on civil society.
This, it is estimated, has led to an increasingly difficult environment in which divisive rhetoric has caused a serious breakdown in trust among stakeholders, which in turn affects the accession process.
The European Commission (EC) has assessed that reforms in Serbia have slowed down significantly. While acknowledging some recent progress, such as the relaunch of the election process for the new Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) and progress in the legislative process of adopting the Law on the Single Voters' Register, which now needs to be completed and implemented, as well as the recent increased alignment with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, which needs to be continued, much more needs to be done, the report states.
The EC stated that polarization in Serbian society has deepened in the context of mass protests, reflecting citizens' disappointment, among other things, with corruption and a perceived lack of accountability and transparency, with cases of excessive use of force against protesters and pressures on civil society.
Marta Kos said that 2025 was “a very good year for the enlargement process”, stating that there had been “significant progress”.
"The progress made so far by Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova shows that reforms are paying off. Montenegro wants to complete negotiations by the end of 2026, Albania by the end of 2027, and Ukraine and Moldova in 2028," Kos said.
She stated that these four countries followed up on their ambitions with concrete steps in 2025.
According to her, Albania has made "unprecedented progress", opening five out of six clusters in negotiations with the EU.
"This outstanding result is a recognition of Albania's foreign policy commitment and the clear pro-European commitment of Albanian society - 91 percent of Albanian citizens support EU accession, the most of all candidate countries," Kos said.
She stated that in the last year "no real progress has been recorded" by North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Kosovo, but for different reasons, and added that the EC will continue to support them on their path towards the EU.
Kos said that Moldova had made the most progress in one year of all candidate countries, while Ukraine had "demonstrated commitment to the European path by implementing important reforms while bombs were falling" on its territory, but also needed to make further progress in the fight against corruption.
She pointed out that the situation in Georgia had deteriorated sharply, with serious democratic setbacks, stating that "probably never in a progress report have there been so many words about setbacks."
"We have seen a rapid erosion of the rule of law and severe restrictions on fundamental rights. The Georgian authorities urgently need to reverse course, the citizens of Georgia demand a European future and have our support. As for Georgia, its candidate status for the Commission exists only on paper," Kos added.
The ruling Georgian Dream party, which critics accuse of drifting toward authoritarianism and pursuing a foreign policy more favorable to Russia, has frozen EU accession talks and accused Brussels of "plotting a revolution" in Georgia, a charge the EU categorically denies.
Kos said that there has been a standstill in accession negotiations with Turkey since 2018, but added that the country is at the same time "an important partner with which the EU shares the same strategic interests in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region."
The report states that the EU, in line with the conclusions of the European Council of April 2024, has improved relations with Turkey through cooperation on shared priorities and that the resumption of negotiations on the settlement of the Cyprus issue is a key element of this cooperation. At the same time, it adds, the increasing number of court cases against opposition politicians and parties, along with numerous other arrests, raises serious concerns about Turkey's commitment to democratic values.
Foreign Minister Kaja Kalas stated that the EC's annual progress report for Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova is predominantly positive, negative for Georgia, and that Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Turkey are between these two poles.
Kalas was also asked whether there was a risk of Serbia becoming a "candidate only on paper", given the situation in the country.
Acknowledging that the report is “critical,” she said that the EU is “in constant contact with the government, with the president, and that they promise to deliver results.” She stressed that she “does not see” Serbia going down the same negative path as Georgia.
President Aleksandar Vučić said yesterday that Serbia must review the EU's demands and understand what it has been doing wrong in order to be able to move faster towards EU membership.
"Serbia has not opened a single chapter or cluster in the last three years. We are the only country that has not imposed sanctions on Russia, but we have always supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine. I believe that we need to consider all the EU's demands and understand what we are doing wrong and move forward faster," Vučić said yesterday in Brussels at the EU Enlargement Summit organized by the Euronews TV network.
Kaja Kalas stated that the EU is in constant contact with the Serbian government and president and that they promise to deliver results. She stressed that she "does not see" Serbia going down the same negative path as Georgia
Kallas said that Serbia and Kosovo are facing political crises "that have halted" their progress towards the EU.
The EC report states that Kosovo remains committed to the European path, with a high level of public support. Delays in the establishment of institutions following the February parliamentary elections have slowed progress on EU-related reforms. Building cross-party cooperation and re-prioritizing these reforms is essential to return to the path of European integration.
Normalization of relations with Serbia and implementation of dialogue obligations remain an integral part of Kosovo's European perspective.
Kaja Kalas stated that developments in Republika Srpska have undermined BiH's progress towards the EU and added that judicial reforms and the appointment of a chief negotiator for negotiations with the EU are key to progress in the accession process.
It said North Macedonia “has not yet adopted the necessary constitutional changes.” The report said North Macedonia needs to step up efforts to uphold the rule of law, protect the independence and integrity of the judiciary, and strengthen the fight against corruption. The country also needs to adopt the necessary constitutional amendments to include a provision in the constitution for citizens of other nationalities, such as Bulgarians, living within the country’s borders.
Speaking about Ukraine, Kalas said that no candidate country has implemented such comprehensive reforms while at war, assessing that this "demonstrates Ukraine's exceptional commitment to membership in the Union."
She said that the October elections in Moldova showed that the country was clearly committed to a European future, adding that it had continued to implement important reforms.
She stated that Georgia "does not have a viable path to the EU at this stage, unless conditions change drastically" and that it is "only formally a candidate country" for membership.
Regarding Turkey, Kallas said that the setbacks in the areas of democratic standards, judicial independence, and fundamental rights have effectively led to the country's European integration process being frozen since 2018.
She stressed that enlargement is a political priority for the EC and a geopolitical investment, but also a necessity if the EU wants to be a stronger player on the world stage.
"Chances for enlargement do not come often, but that window is now open and it must be seized. We do not offer shortcuts, accession is a fair and difficult process based on merit. The entry of new members by 2030 is a realistic goal," she said.
Damage to Ukraine's image
The EC said that Ukraine needs to make further progress in the area of the rule of law.
EU officials had previously expressed concern over moves in July that gave Ukraine's prosecutor general, a political appointee, greater oversight of the national anti-corruption bureau and a specialized prosecutor's office.
Faced with international outcry and rare protests during the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reversed a controversial decision that sought to establish political control over anti-corruption agencies and in July restored the independence of two institutions fighting corruption.
However, according to European officials and diplomats who spoke to Politiko ahead of yesterday's report's release, the damage to Ukraine's image as an A+ EU candidate had already been done - both in the eyes of the EC and in national capitals.
"Recent negative trends, including pressure on specialized anti-corruption agencies and civil society, must be decisively reversed," the Commission said.
Zelensky welcomed the report and said that "Ukraine is confidently moving towards EU membership" and is ready to open more clusters in the negotiations.
"This is the best rating so far - proof that Ukraine, even while defending itself from Russian total aggression, continues to implement reforms and change in line with European standards," wrote X online.
Alluding apparently to Hungary, which continues to block further progress in accession negotiations, Zelensky said that Ukraine expects "decisive moves by the EU to overcome all artificial obstacles on the path to a strong and united Europe."
Zelensky later said he would like Ukraine to become an EU member before 2030, but that is highly unlikely, given the scale of reforms that candidate countries must implement, as well as the reluctance of existing members to accept a poor, war-torn country with a population of almost 40 million.
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