European Parliamentarians Urge Serbia to Reconsider Relationship with Russia

European parliament

Serbia, as a candidate for membership, should demonstrate commitment to the European Union’s policies and standards, among other things, with respect to Russia as well, and Belgrade is expected to align with the Union’s restrictive measures, reconsider its relationship with Russia in the economic and defense sectors, and fight the Kremlin's misinformation, a document issued by the European Parliament’s foreign policy committee (AFET) says.

The draft document, which the AFET will vote on on June 13-14, followed by the EP in July, stresses that the pace of Serbia’s EU accession depends on the progress that the country makes in the chapters on rule of law and fundamental rights, full alignment with the EU’s foreign, security and defense policies, including sanctions against Russia, and progress in the normalization of relations with Kosovo.

The draft resolution, which is based on a 2021 report by the European Commission, was supplemented with numerous amendments, with underline and concretize some of the remarks. As for the most important issue, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EC said it regretted that Serbia had refused to accept the Union’s sanctions against Russia, adding that Serbia was one of the few European states that had failed to join international sanctions, urging Serbia’s new authorities to demonstrate “a genuine and unambiguous commitment to the values, standards and rules of the EU.”

The authorities in Serbia are also urged to urgently align with the Union’s positions and decisions in the area of foreign and security policies, including the use of restrictive measures against Russia and Belarus, consisting of sanctions against individuals, groups and entities. Serbia is also advised to reconsider economic cooperation with Russia, while the EU also said it regretted that while its own airspace was closed to flights to and from Russia, the Belgrade-Moscow route was operating normally.