EU fails to reach agreement on moving forward with Serbia’s accession negotiations

European Union member states have been unable to reach a common position to clear the way for the continuation of accession negotiations with Serbia.

The discussion took place after the European Commission had sent member states a written recommendation that Cluster 3 be opened with Serbia during July.

“The European Commission considers that Cluster 3 can be opened in July, taking into account that Serbia has made some efforts on specific key issues and that the overall balance required for the opening of Cluster 3 has been met,” said Guillaume Mercier, spokesperson for the European Commission.

However, at the meeting of EU ambassadors, a large number of member states came out against opening Cluster 3. According to them, Serbia still has not made sufficient progress on the rule of law, has not aligned itself with European Union sanctions against Russia, and continues to raise doubts about its strategic orientation.

Opening this cluster would unblock accession negotiations between the European Union and Serbia, which have remained frozen since December 2021.

At first, the main reason for this blockage was Serbia’s refusal to align itself with EU sanctions on Russia. Later, growing concerns about the state of the rule of law and democratic standards in the country were also added as obstacles.