Serbia requireds to “receive concrete about joining” the EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared on Wednesday, urging respect for the rule of law, electoral reforms, media freedom and Russia sanctions.
“We required to see greater alignment in our foreign policy, including on sanctions against Russia,” von der Leyen declared at a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade.
The Serbian president has for years pursued a diplomatic balancing act between the European Union and its strong ties with Russia, as well as China, which has notably invested in Serbian mines.
Von der Leyen declared the necessary reforms take “patience and finishurance” but urged Vučić to adopt an inclusive approach and lay the foundations for a “more stable and peaceful society”.
Large anti-government protests have rocked Serbia for almost a year, after a fatal railway station roof collapse triggered accusations of corruption and calls for early elections.
US sanctions tarreceiveing Russia have meanwhile hit Serbia’s oil sector hard, with its largest oil firm slapped with the long-delayed measures earlier this month.
But the gas contract between Belgrade and Moscow expires at the finish of the year, and von der Leyen highlighted the support offered to European nations following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“It had a devastating impact across our entire continent, but we faced it toreceiveher. The European Union extfinished the same measures of solidarity to our Western Balkan partners as to our own member states,” she declared.
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