EU postpones decision on opening Cluster 3 with Serbia, calls for continued reforms

BRUSSELS - EU member states have postponed the opening of Cluster 3 (Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth) in Serbia's EU accession talks.

In conclusions on enlargement, the Presidency of the Council of the EU said the Council would "revert to the issue of the opening of Cluster 3 in line with the negotiating framework, recalling in particular the need for substantial further progress by Serbia on the rule of law" and "normalisation of relations" with Pristina, which "will continue to determine the overall pace of accession negotiations."

In a statement, the Presidency said the conclusions on enlargement had not been adopted due to a lack of consensus by all EU member states after 26 out of 27 member states had voted for them.

"The Council notes the overall progress achieved in the accession negotiations so far, with 22 out of 35 negotiating chapters opened and two chapters provisionally closed," the conclusions said, acknowledging the EU Commission’s assessment that Serbia "maintains its level of preparedness on the opening benchmarks in Cluster 3."

"Serbia should accelerate reforms and deliver concrete and tangible results on the fundamentals, in particular by focusing on fulfilling the interim benchmarks of the rule of law chapters 23 and 24," the Council said, calling on Serbia "to de-escalate tensions and overcome deep polarisation in the society."

"The Council welcomes the adoption of the amendments to the law on the unified voter register and stresses the importance of its proper implementation, in particular by finalising the audit of the voter register," it also said.

It noted "with regret the backsliding in freedom of expression, while welcoming the adoption of amendments to media legislation, the implementation of which in letter and spirit is of key importance."

"The Council welcomes that EU integration remains Serbia’s strategic goal and expects Serbia to reflect this more clearly in both actions and words. This includes demonstrating strong political will and consistency in implementing EU-related reforms, and communicating objectively and unambiguously on the EU. While the reforms significantly slowed down during the past year, the Council takes note of certain recent positive developments and encourages Serbia to continue this trend," the document said.

Serbia last opened a cluster in its EU accession talks four years ago, in December 2021.

Vucic: I will not go to EU-Western Balkans summit, we will continue on EU path

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday evening he would not be attending Wednesday's EU-Western Balkans summit because he believed he had to protect Serbia's interests, but added that, in any case, Serbia would continue on its EU path.

"For the first time in 13 or 14 years, the intergovernmental conference will not be attended by me or anyone else. No one will be attending on behalf of the Republic of Serbia, so they will have a Western Balkans without the Republic of Serbia," Vucic said in an appearance on the RTS.

"I made that decision, no one else should be to blame. I do not want the Government to be under any kind of pressure. In the past 24 hours, I have spoken with the majority of European leaders. I am endlessly grateful for the respect for Serbia shown by (European Commission President) Ursula von der Leyen and (European Council President) Antonio Costa, I am grateful to (French President Emmanuel) Macron, with whom I also spoke last night," Vucic said, adding that he had had a long conversation with Macron.

"I think that, this way, I am protecting the Republic of Serbia and its interests, because, first, we must demonstrate what we have done, and we have done much, and they (the EU) have acknowledged that," Vucic said. He added that, at a ministerial summit earlier in the day, representatives of Spain, Italy and France had spoken about that and that "our friends from Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria supported that very strongly."

"Of course, it is a different situation when it comes to Croatia, Bulgaria, or when it comes to the Netherlands, Sweden and some other countries. In any case, we will continue on our EU path as long as I am president, that is our policy, but that is not a long period of time. After that, a new president and a new government will make a decision on how we will proceed and on what path," Vucic said.