Serbia has once again emerged as the only EU candidate country in the Western Balkans that has failed to align with European Union sanctions against Russia, imposed in response to Moscow’s war against Ukraine and its destabilizing actions.
This was confirmed in a statement by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, who noted that Serbia has not aligned with any of the four restrictive measures packages adopted by the EU in December. These sanctions target Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine, internal repression in Russia, destabilizing actions in the region, and Belarus’s involvement in the war.
According to Kallas, all other EU candidate countries have fully aligned with the latest decisions of the EU Council, ensuring their national policies are consistent with the Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. The EU, she stressed, has welcomed this alignment across the region.
Serbia remains the sole exception, continuing to refuse alignment with EU foreign and security policy toward Russia — a stance that is increasingly undermining its EU accession process.
Although Serbia opened accession negotiations in 2014, the process has been stalled since December 2021, when the last negotiating chapters were opened. While the European Commission has confirmed that technical conditions for opening Cluster 3 have been met, there is no political consensus among EU member states to move forward.
In its two most recent progress reports, the European Commission concluded that Serbia has made no tangible progress in key areas including democratic institutions, rule of law, media freedom, and freedom of expression. These deficiencies, combined with Belgrade’s refusal to join EU sanctions against Russia, continue to block Serbia’s advancement toward EU membership.
