Serbia at the summit Of the European Union o Zapadnom Balkanu there is no representative. President Aleksandar Vučić announced this information personally in the RTS daily.
Only a few days after declaring that he believed the entire region should join the European family together, Vucic almost angrily stated that he had decided not to go to the summit. Neither he, nor any state representative Of Serbia.
"For the first time in the last 13 or 14 years, neither I nor anyone else will go to that intergovernmental conference. No one will represent the Republic of Serbia, so the Western Balkans will be without the Republic of Serbia," Vučić told RTS.
And such a reaction comes a few days after the president was in Brussels, where he met with several European officials. It comes at a time when it is quite clear that Serbia will not open a new folder in the negotiations this time either.
Ivan Vujacic, a former diplomat, interprets this move by the authorities in Serbia as a form of protest. Sofija Popović, journalist of the portal Savremene Politike, commented on the similar decision of the Serbian authorities.
Why is Serbia not at the table in Brussels?
Over the last few years, Serbia has been slowing down its path towards the European Union. On that road Montenegro ran over her., which could become the first next full member of the community, while Serbia stagnates and does not implement the set reforms.
Former diplomat Ivan Vujacic sees Belgrade's move as a form of protest and expression of dissatisfaction with the decision not to open cluster three to Serbia.
"In our country, the narrative that says that we deserved to open cluster three has spread, several ministers have stated that they do not understand the European Union, which does not understand its criteria, and it is fundamentally forgotten that the opening of that cluster is also related to the rule of law, which is crucial, but also to alignment with foreign policy, for the media image and what was requested to be implemented during the previous arrival Ursula von der Leyen to Belgrade", says Vujacic.
As he adds, he is sure that there are a certain number of countries that are not ready to look past Serbia because of what has not been done and that due to internal reforms and foreign policy, they do not want to give the green light to that cluster.
"The bottom line is that the European Union, at least formally, does not want to exclude Serbia from that process, and on the other hand, no cluster has been opened for several years, and that in itself shows how dissatisfied they are with the internal reforms that should harmonize Serbia with the EU on the internal level. The EU has shown that it is open to additional expansion at this moment."
However, as he adds, when everything is put together - what has been done in relation to what was proclaimed - there is a certain lack of moves by the Serbian authorities that the country is moving in the direction of the European Union.
"Serbia is declaratively in favor, but this is not visible in any reforms and actions."
Vujacic believes that it may happen that due to not going to the summit, some countries openly express a negative attitude.
Sofija Popović, journalist of Contemporary Politics, recalls that it happened before that the authorities announced that no one would go to a summit, but that in practice this did not happen, and this time - the decision is definitive.
"Obviously, the authorities do not like the fact that European officials are communicating that the reason for the standstill is the lack of reforms, so I see this kind of message from Belgrade as a kind of protest by the authorities against such EU rhetoric, and certainly not useful for such a step," Popović believes.
As he adds, this decision will not be forgotten among EU officials.
"We will see if there will be any concrete reactions. I think this move is what the EU has been afraid of all these years - that the authorities do not go to the other side, but since there is no other side to go to, it seems to me that this move is more performative than essential," Popović believes.
MEP: Slap in Belgrade
If the message of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić that neither he nor anyone from Serbia will attend the summit of the EU and the Western Balkans is final, the EU could take it as a slap in the face.
For N1, the representative of the Greens from Slovenia in the European Parliament, Vladimir Prebilič, commented on the statement of the President of Serbia and the decision that no one attends the summit.
As he added, the EU is not there to complain, "it will always give all its support, because it is not only a question of the Serbian leadership, but also of the Serbian people, and they need to be given a helping hand".
Any rejection of dialogue and exchange of opinions is a bad thing, and the best thing for the Serbian leadership is to do what it promised, Preblić added.
"Now it's more or less time to work, to do what needs to be done, not to argue and not come into contact," he said.
He also said that he would like us not to have reached a situation where the authorities in Serbia no longer consider it important to bring Serbia into the EU. He also pointed out that the question is rightly raised whether the government has the capacity and the will to really democratize.
Before President Vučić's statement, the General Affairs Council of the European Union (GAC) welcomed the fact that EU integration remains Serbia's strategic goal, but emphasized that it expects the country to demonstrate this more clearly with actions and words, and that there is no agreement for the opening of cluster three.
The EU summit on the Western Balkans is being held in Brussels on December 18 and 19, and the official opening is on Wednesday the 17th.
