Only about one third of Serbian citizens still support membership in the European Union, according to a recent survey. Experts attribute the reasons both to developments in Belgrade and to policies in Brussels.
Serbia, which has been waiting in the EU’s “waiting room” for 14 years, is now being overtaken on the road to Brussels by neighboring Montenegro and Albania. The seemingly endless waiting period has apparently deepened frustration among Serbs toward the European Union. A survey published in recent days in Belgrade shows that only around one third of Serbs still want to join the EU.
The survey, conducted by the Belgrade-based Center for Contemporary Policy (CSP), concludes that only 36 percent of the population supports EU membership. Moreover, support for the EU is declining rapidly. Around 15 years ago, 70 percent of Serbs were in favor of joining the EU. While the figure declined in the years that followed, it still remained above 50 percent. According to CSP, there is also a significant increase in the share of respondents who openly oppose EU membership. At 33 percent, they are now almost equal in number to those who support it.
Who is responsible for the crisis of trust?
The survey results have sparked debate in Serbia over who is responsible for the crisis of trust toward the EU: an authoritarian government that regularly fuels anti-Western sentiment through pro-government media, or EU member states that have blocked the Western Balkans’ accession process for years.
Serbian EU affairs expert Bojana Selaković from Belgrade believes that both sides bear responsibility. “The government of Aleksandar Vučić has not officially abandoned EU membership, but in reality, accession has never truly been its goal,” says Selaković, coordinator of the Serbian civic platform National Convention on the European Union, quoted by the German news agency KNA. She adds that, for the EU as well, this indefinite waiting period appeared to be an acceptable status quo for many years.
Selaković compares Serbia’s relationship with Brussels during this period to an “open marriage,” noting that Vučić simultaneously built close ties with China and Russia. She criticizes Brussels for often turning a blind eye to election manipulation or measures against the media and opposition. In return, Belgrade ensured a tense calm in the region. Critics of the EU have long described Brussels’ approach as support for “stabilocracy.”
Greater popularity among young people
The EU remains more popular among young people. According to Selaković, “they are the only generation that perceives the EU as a natural instrument for life opportunities: mobility, open borders, education, access to the labor market, and legal certainty.”
For more than a year, Serbia has been in a state of political crisis. Following the catastrophe at the Novi Sad train station on November 1, 2024, in which 16 people were killed, weekly protests took place. Vučić has announced early parliamentary elections for this year, one of the many demands raised by protesting students.
These protests brought renewed EU attention to Serbia’s government due to allegations of violence against demonstrators and journalists. Brussels diplomats are pressing for reforms, both in terms of the rule of law and the normalization of relations with Kosovo. However, according to Selaković, this shift by Brussels comes too late: “The damage has already been done. The European agenda has lost credibility in Serbia, while the government has been able to consolidate its power without any real constraints,” KNA reports. /DW/
