European Movement: No Political Will for Essential Change

Vladimir Medjak (Beta/Media Center Beograd)

Essential change on Serbia's European road is delayed due to a lack of political will, Vice-President of the European Movement in Serbia Vladimir Medjak said on March 8 in Belgrade.

At a presentation of his publication titled An Analysis of the European Union Enlargement Policy and Serbia's Progress so Far in the Process of Accession Negotiations in the Period 2014-2020, Medjak said that Serbia's European integration had begun to slow down when the time came to do things "that are not popular and which will essentially change Serbia and direct it toward the EU."

"The Western Balkans have in 16 years received 28.5 euros per capita from pre-accession funds, while Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has received 13 euros [per capita], which means we are getting more money from the EU, but there is no credibility of the completion of the negotiations like there was in CEE," said Medjak, adding that "the money is not the problem, political will is." 

According to some research, Serbia annually loses EUR1.1 million in grants because it is not in the EU. The Serbian government, as Medjak put it, has no time to do anything fundamental in European integration because it has an "expiration date" next year, "especially in pandemic conditions," when funds are focused on combating the pandemic. He added that he saw "no possibility of any kind of progress" before the election.