Brussels
The EU could convince Serbia to implement democratic reforms in exchange for a realistic membership prospect, but considering that Brussels saw the weak Serbian opposition as no alternative to the Serbian Progressive Party-led government or President Aleksandar Vucic, the EU was interested in status quo with Serbia, Polish analyst Marta Spala said on June 23.
“Even common Serbs, as well as the government, are aware that a EU membership is far away. Aleksandar Vucic has been exploiting this situation to fortify his rule. The EU could convince Belgrade to carry out reforms if it in exchange offered a realistic prospect of a membership or imposed sanctions, for example, individual sanctions against government officials involved in corruption,” Spala told Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza.
According to her, although with the June 21 vote, Serbia has turned into a one-man show of President Vucic, who has been taking a turn toward authoritarian rule, while pushing the country away from the West and bringing it closer to China, European leaders take no interest in this trend.
“The opposition is weak and additionally compromised with its former cabinets. The EU is interested in status quo with Serbia as it does not see any alternative to Vucic cabinets,” according to the analyst of the Polish Center for Eastern Studies.
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