"Serbia has no obligation to align its policy with EU until the very moment it joins the bloc"

Vice-President of the Serbian National Assembly Marina Ragus said today that - according to the current criteria - Serbia has no obligation to align its own with EU's foreign and security policy, and added that only immediately before joining the EU, a country must be 100 percent harmonized with the bloc's foreign and security policy.

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Speaking about the decision of EU member states not to open Cluster 3 in membership negotiations with Serbia, Ragus told Tanjug that this is something that was expected - even though Serbia has technically fulfilled all the conditions and criteria for opening that cluster, and did so five years ago.

She added that it was for this reason that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic made the decision that Serbia would not have a representative at  this week's EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels.

Ragus's message is that Serbia will continue on its path toward joining the EU, but also that Serbia will continue to conduct a sovereign policy and listen and monitor the citizens of Serbia in terms of national and state interests.

"In this highly hysterical global, war atmosphere, where Serbia conducts a policy of peace and stability, that's bothersome. It bothers them when you lead a sovereign policy, in the political West, as well as in the East. That's a confirmation that your policies are the best possible. Citizens should not worry, the state leadership is there to deal with all the challenges. All gas stations are supplied despite the situation regarding NIS," she said.

Ragus added that Serbia is not giving up on its sovereign policy even though it bothers everyone, and added that it is good that in such situations the country has proper lleadership with huge political experience.

It is very important to foster dialogue in our country including with political opponents, she said, and added that everyone should come to their senses and understand that Serbia is our country and that we should work together to strengthen it.

"I think the biggest success of the government is that the students have returned to the normal teaching processes, that life in Serbia is slowly normalizing, considering the year behind us. I can't wait for 2026 to be completely different for us," she added.

When asked if the EU today demands more from Serbia than some member states when it comes to aligning with EU's foreign policy, Ragus assessed that they demand much more from us, and noted that the criteria for membership resembles moving goalposts.

Ragus said that EU's decision not to open Cluster 3 (in Serbia's membership negotiations with the EU) coincided with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and because Serbia did not join sanctions against Russia - noting that now nationalization of NIS (Petroleum Industry of Serbia) is being added to that, even though President Vucic has repeatedly mentioned that this will not happen and that Serbia will not steal anyone's property.

The sovereign policy led by Serbia will only gain in importance when all the challenges are over, Ragus said, and added that the country's decision to be militarily neutral will gain importance, if there is a major conflict in Europe.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)