Opposition Warns of Serbia’s International Isolation

Dusko Lopandic (Photo: Milos Miskov)

The fact that the latest summit of the Slovenian-Croatian Brdo-Brioni Initiative was held in Durres shows just how isolating Serbia’s foreign policy is, former diplomat and vice-president of the Serbia Center party Dusko Lopandic said on Oct. 8, explaining that Albania has so far hosted “at least ten” summits related to the EU or Balkans over the last year while Serbia has hosted none.

Speaking for the Danas daily, Lopandic asserted that the summit also highlighted how much Serbia is lagging behind others in its EU accession negotiations. While Albania commenced the process nearly a decade later than Serbia, it has already surpassed its northern neighbor in the number of clusters opened, the politician said.

According to him, one of the prerequisites for Serbia’s accession talks – which commenced only after the 2013 Brussels Agreement was signed – were relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

“Now, however, negotiations with the EU are practically stalled, not just over Kosovo, but due to the [Serbian government’s] lack of respect for the democratic rule of law and Belgrade’s stance towards Russia,” Lopandic concluded.