EU leader praises Serbia for EU membership progress despite growing Russian influence

BELGRADE, Serbia — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised the Serbian president on Friday for meeting with her and other European Union leaders instead of attending a Russian-organized summit of developing economies in beginning of this week.

Serbia has close ties to Russia and has refused to join international sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. In a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said EU candidate Serbia would stand by its stance on sanctions despite EU and other Western pressure.

However, despite Putin’s invitation, Vucic did not attend a three-day summit of the BRICS group of nations, led by Russia and China, held in the Russian city of Kazan earlier this week. Leaders or representatives of 36 countries attended the summit, underscoring the failure of US-led efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Vucic sent a high-level delegation to the meeting, but said he could not attend alone because he had scheduled meetings with von der Leyen and the Polish and Greek leaders. There are fears in the West that Putin is planning trouble in the volatile Balkans, in part, to shift some of the focus away from his invasion of Ukraine.

“What I see is that the President of the Republic of Serbia is hosting me here today and he just hosted the Prime Minister of Greece and the Prime Minister of Poland. I think that speaks for itself,” said von der Leyen at a joint press conference with Vucic.

“And for my part, I want to say that my presence here today, in the context of my fourth trip to the Balkan region since I took office, is a very clear sign that I believe that Serbia’s future is in the European Union,” he she said.

Vucic said he knows what the EU requires for eventual membership – including compliance with foreign policy goals – but did not promise further coordination.

“Of course, Ursula called for greater compliance with the EU’s foreign policy statement,” he said. “We clearly know what the requirements are, what the expectations are.”

Von der Leyen was in Serbia as part of a trip this week to EU candidate countries in the Western Balkans to reassure them that EU enlargement remains a priority for the 27-nation bloc. From Serbia, von der Leyen will travel to neighboring Kosovo and Montenegro.

Serbian media reported that von der Leyen refused to meet Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic because of his talks on Friday with a high-level Russian economic delegation, which was in Belgrade to discuss deepening ties with Serbia. Vucic will meet with Russian officials on Saturday.

In Bosnia on Friday, von der Leyen pledged support for the deeply divided Balkan country, which is struggling with reforms needed to move towards EU membership.

The countries of the Western Balkans — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications to join the EU. Countries have been frustrated by the slow pace of the process, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted European leaders to force the six to join the bloc.

Bosnia won candidate status in 2022. EU leaders in March agreed in principle to open accession negotiations, although Bosnia still has a lot of work to do.

“We share the same vision for the future, a future in which Bosnia-Herzegovina is a full member of the European Union,” von der Leyen said at a joint press conference with Bosnian Prime Minister Bojana Kristo. “So, I would say, let’s keep working on it. We have already come a long way, we still have a long way to go, but I am confident that you will succeed.”

Last year, EU officials offered a $6.5 billion growth plan to Western Balkan countries in an effort to double the region’s economy over the next decade and accelerate its efforts to join the bloc. This aid is conditional on reforms that would bring their savings in line with EU rules.

The Commission approved the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia on Wednesday after a green light from EU member states. This was a key step to enable payments under the growth plan upon completion of agreed reform milestones.

However, Bosnia’s reform agenda has not yet been approved by the Commission.

“The accession process is, as you know, merit-based … we don’t look at hard data, we look at the merits, the progress a country is making,” von der Leyen said. “The important thing is that we have an ambitious reform agenda, as do the other five countries in the Western Balkans. We are ready to help you move forward.”

Long after a 1992-95 ethnic war that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless, Bosnia remains ethnically divided and politically deadlocked. An ethnic Serb entity – one of two equal parts of Bosnia joined by a joint government – ​​has sought to gain as much independence as possible.

Upon arriving in Bosnia, von der Leyen on Thursday first went to Donja Jablanica, a village in central Bosnia that has been devastated by recent floods and landslides. The disaster in early October left 27 dead and the small village was practically buried in stones from a quarry located on a hill above.

Von der Leyen said the EU was sending a $21 million aid package immediately and would also provide reconstruction support later.

AP writer Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade.