Serbia will not be included in the list of countries that will receive an indicative roadmap for the process of joining the European Union.
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The European Commission is expected to publish roadmaps at the end of October for Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova, which are considered the countries that have made the greatest progress toward membership.
Serbia’s exclusion officially shows that Belgrade no longer has the leading role it once held among the candidate countries seeking EU integration.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said that Serbia must meet additional conditions and that, after the elections, it will be assessed whether its government will limit itself to statements about EU membership or take concrete action.
Strahinja Subotić, from the non-governmental organization the European Policy Centre in Belgrade, views the absence of a roadmap as a strong warning signal and evidence that Serbia is falling behind on its path toward European integration.
Speaking to Radio Free Europe, he stressed that the deadlock is not linked only to the fact that Serbia has not opened any negotiating chapter in the accession talks for years and cannot benefit from the funds of the Growth Plan.
According to Subotić, the latest message implies that Serbia also risks losing other important benefits linked to gradual membership in the European Union.
The roadmaps will be part of the enlargement package, which the European Commission plans to adopt on October 28. Serbia has not opened any negotiating chapter in the EU accession talks since December 2021.
At the same time, the situation in the area of the rule of law has deteriorated, making it even more difficult for Serbia to overcome its years-long deadlock in the European process.
Experts assess that, if it continues with this approach, Serbia could remain in the same position, at the bottom of the list of countries seeking membership in the European Union.
