Stefan Surlić, assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, told RTS that Euroscepticism is on the rise in Serbia.
Source: RTS
According to Professor Stefan Surlić, citizens do not believe that their country will ever become a member of the EU, because they believe that there are hidden conditions that cannot be met. For Serbia, this condition is the normalization of relations with Pristina, and the dialogue is, as he says, clinically dead at the moment.
He affirms that the year 2030 can be both realistic and ambitious, as Charles Michel points out. Surlić also mentions that Michel’s statement surprised him because there is great responsibility when it comes to dates.
“Of course, politicians, especially those at the Brussels summit, avoided announcing something like that, knowing the methodology that full membership, apart from all these criteria, requires the unanimous agreement of all member states. This is why we have had certain years – Even Juncker once said that if Serbia and Montenegro meet all the criteria, a realistic date would be 2025”, Surlić emphasized.
According to him, this currently seems to be a completely unrealizable scenario. Surlić says that the year 2030 can be both realistic and ambitious, as Charles Michel points out.
“I would even add that it is very optimistic, because experts working on the EU accession process say that according to the current methodology, it takes at least five to seven years to complete the whole complex process” , did he declare.
Immediately after Michel’s statement, the European Commission also issued a response, seemingly distancing itself from his assessments, saying it had not had prior consultations on this timeline.
“I think it’s very important that we still discuss a certain year, because it serves as a guide, providing predictability to the process, but of course we have to take this year with caution. For several reasons. First, those who talk about it year today, she will probably not hold any political office by then. Let’s remember Angela Merkel, who was supposed to bring the Western Balkan countries into the EU at the end of her political career “It is already in a significant political retreat and the Western Balkans are far from the EU,” Surlić noted.
Thus, previous messages from Juncker, now Michel, should be taken with caution, as they are unlikely to be responsible for the Western Balkan countries’ full membership in the EU, Surlić emphasizes.
He claims that not only in Serbia, but also in other Western Balkan countries, there is growing Euroscepticism. Citizens do not believe that their country will ever become a member of the EU and think that there are hidden conditions that cannot be met, Surlić emphasizes.
However, he emphasizes that the essential thing now lies in the fact that the enlargement policy is part of a geopolitical context. “The European Union, or at least all its representatives, agree that they do not want to import problems and that Belgrade and Pristina must agree and achieve a complete normalization of relations before any discussion on accession”, underlines Surlic.
According to him, the war in Ukraine completely changed the political landscape and atmosphere.
“Today, as in the 1990s and early 2000s, some formal criteria could be neglected and, in exchange, a clearer perspective of Western Balkans membership could be offered. It is no longer just l “The interest of the Western Balkan countries is also the interest of these countries. It is in the interest of the EU member states to have a more secure European continent,” emphasizes Surlić.
“We see a constant change in methodology, but here for Serbia the political conditions are much more important, especially regarding the normalization of relations with Pristina and alignment with EU foreign policy. specifically sanctions against Russia. Today Serbia’s position is neutral. It condemned the aggression in Ukraine but did not impose sanctions on Russia. But if we really talk about future membership to the EU, all countries, including Serbia, will have to align on foreign policy,” Surlić said.
Whether these sanctions will still be in force at the time of accession is an open question, but we will undoubtedly continue to have an open issue regarding the final agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina , and without this we will be able to We are not discussing the prospect of Serbia’s full membership in the EU, Surlić emphasizes.
The continuation of the dialogue was discussed on the sidelines of the strategic summit in Bled. Dialogue mediator Miroslav Lajčak met with Albin Kurti and arrives in Belgrade today.
“At the moment the dialogue is clinically dead and Lajčak, as mediator, is repeatedly trying to restart the dialogue through a new round of negotiations or a meeting at the highest level in Brussels to move things forward from the start. stop,” says Surlić.