Serbia Markedly Behind other EU Candidates in Foreign Policy Alignment

Evropska-Unija

Staying its course regarding adherence to the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), in the first half of 2023, Serbia aligned with the Union on only 52 percent of issues, which is slightly higher than a year ago, but still below the alignment rate of all other EU membership candidates in the region.

In the first half of 2022, Serbia’s alignment was 44 percent, while its total rate for last year was 48 percent – which are again record-lows among other Western Balkan candidate countries.

According to the International and Security Affairs Center (ISAC)’s annual report on Serbia for 2022, the latest improvement in this statistic is the result of the EU’s “less intense pace” of introducing new packages of restrictive measures against Russia.

ISAC research director Igor Novakovic told BETA’s Daily European Service that not all of the EU’s foreign policy declarations and measures hold equal weight and that “at the moment, the issue of the war in Ukraine is most important.”

The ISAC analysis indicates that, in the first six months of 2023, Serbia continued to avoid aligning with declarations and measures against the Russian Federation and China, their citizens, entities or interests. “One of the main reasons for this attitude is the issue of Kosovo, and Serbia is still seeking the support of both Russia and China in various international forums,” the report stated.