At least five European Union member states are currently directly blocking Serbia’s path toward EU accession by withholding support for the opening of Cluster 3 in the membership negotiations.
In addition to the Netherlands, whose representative has officially confirmed this position for RFE, the countries opposing the opening of the cluster include the three Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—as well as Sweden.
Meanwhile, the newspaper Danas reports that such a stance is unprecedented in Serbia’s EU integration process and represents a serious warning signal.
“The situation has reached a critical point,” sources told the newspaper.
They attribute responsibility for this situation to the regime of President Aleksandar Vučić, stating that he has exhausted all political credit and credibility for Serbia’s progress toward the European Union. According to them, his style of governance is characterized by corruption, human rights violations, and restrictions on freedom of expression.
According to RFE, the main reasons for opposition to opening Cluster 3 are related to the rule of law. For some member states, Serbia’s refusal to impose sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine remains an important factor. The lack of sanctions against Russia has been a key reason why Serbia’s EU accession talks have been effectively blocked since December 2021.
Meanwhile, the situation in the rule of law area has deteriorated, as reflected in European Commission reports.
Cluster 3 concerns competitiveness and inclusive growth and includes eight negotiation chapters. The European Commission had already assessed in 2021 that the conditions for its opening had been met.
The opening or closing of a negotiation cluster requires unanimous approval from all EU member states.
