Serbian president: not all in Europe want to see Ukraine and Western Balkans in EU
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has stated that he does not believe Serbia will be able to join the EU in the near future, as reported by European Pravda.
Source: Vučić in Belgrade at a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Vučić noted that he understands Ukraine's position and its desire to open all negotiation clusters with the EU as quickly as possible.
"But I do not see the opportunity, above all for Serbia – I am not speaking about Ukraine now – to become an EU member in the near future, for many political reasons," he said.
According to Vučić, he told Zelenskyy it would be good if Ukraine, Moldova and other countries joined the EU.
"But I do not think it is entirely open, that all Europeans are looking positively at membership of our countries in the EU. And I always speak about this openly. For us they will find Croatians, Bulgarians and Dutch, and for Ukraine they will find someone else. But I do not see the possibility at this moment of realistically putting this into practice," he added.
Vučić, nonetheless, stated that Serbia would not obstruct Ukraine's path to EU membership.
"We will not say: 'Take us first, do not take Ukraine'. Ukraine will never have such a problem, at least from one small country such as Serbia," he added.
He is also convinced that there will be no strong voice within the EU in favour of accelerating the European integration process.
Background:
- Vučić had previously stated his support for Ukraine on its path to the EU and expressed his wish for it to open and close all negotiation clusters.
- Vsevolod Chentsov, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, expects the remaining negotiation clusters for Ukraine to open in autumn. In his view, completing negotiations with the EU by the end of 2027 is an ambitious but achievable goal.
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