Serbia may face a block on its European Union membership if President Aleksandar Vucic attends the Victory Day parade in Russia next month, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Russian state media reported that Vucic would be one of the foreign dignitaries present at the event, contributing military equipment to the May 9th spectacle, as reported by The Telegraph.
In response, European officials warned Vucic that his visit would violate the EU’s membership criteria, jeopardizing Serbia’s ambitions to join the bloc.
“We need to make sure they understand that some decisions have a cost,” said Jonatan Vseviov, the Secretary-General of Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The consequence is their non-membership in the European Union.”
He added, “The Russians have worked hard to get people to participate… For us, this will be an important litmus test. Essentially, what we are seeing is whether they are on our side or playing on the other team.”
This development comes at a critical moment for Serbia, which is balancing its traditional ties with Russia and its aspirations to move closer to the EU.
EU Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas stated that EU foreign ministers discussed possible member states attending the ceremony in Moscow during a meeting on Monday.
“What was also discussed very clearly and stated by various member states is that any participation in the May 9th parades or celebrations in Moscow will not be accepted easily by the European side, given that Russia is currently waging a large-scale war in Europe,” she told journalists after the meeting.
Kallas has also urged other EU members not to attend Putin’s Victory Day celebrations, which this year mark the 80th anniversary of Germany’s defeat in World War II.
Slovakia, an EU country with close ties to Moscow, has also been invited to the event next month.
Robert Fico, the Slovak prime minister, confirmed last year that he would attend, making him one of the few EU leaders to have met with Putin in over three years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of Putin in Europe, will not participate.
Kallas added, “I have also called on all member states and representatives of the institutions to visit Kyiv as much as possible to truly show our solidarity and that we stand with Ukraine.”
