Croatian MEP Tomislav Sokol said today that Serbia is the main source of instability in the region and that a “sanitary cordon” should be created around it in order to limit what he described as a pro-Serbian and dangerous policy.
“European funds should be suspended for Serbia until certain things change there. I would say that a sanitary cordon should be created around Serbia not only around Vučić, but also around all Greater Serbian options coming from there. They should be isolated, and everything should be done to limit their dangerous policies,” Sokol told Croatian N1 television.
Sokol is a member of the Croatian ruling party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which is part of the European People’s Party. For N1, he commented on statements made by the European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia, Croatian MEP Tonino Picula from the Social Democratic Party, who said that the regime of Aleksandar Vučić is the main source of instability in Serbia and the region.
“The Greater Serbian ideology in Serbia has not been defeated; it is now stronger than ever. I would say that the current Serbian government is more Greater-Serbian oriented than Milošević’s regime, only that the circumstances are such that they are not able to implement it immediately by force, so they use other methods,” the MEP said.
Sokol assessed that “the current Serbian government, and the general mood in Serbian society which has been influenced by Vučić’s media since 2012 is such that Serbian society is much closer to Chetnik ideology than it was in the late 1980s.”
“When we see what they are saying, the majority of the opposition is no better than Vučić,” the MEP added.
He emphasized that he agrees with Picula’s assessment and said he has been arguing for years that “the policy of appeasement toward Serbia is a failure, that Serbia is the main source of instability in the whole of Southeast Europe, and that it should be sanctioned much more strongly.”
“You cannot integrate someone who does not want to be integrated, who sees the EU only as a piggy bank to extract money from, while pursuing policies that have nothing to do with the EU,” Sokol concluded.
Regarding the possibility of a change of government in Serbia in upcoming elections, Sokol said he does not see any alternative that would be significantly better than Vučić, and assessed that real civil, democratic, and pro-European forces are currently very weak and unlikely to succeed in elections.
