Milivojevic: EU's priority is expansion to Western Balkans, Serbia will have to be talked with

Photo: Medija Centar Beograd

Career diplomat Zoran Milivojevic has assessed that expansion to the Western Balkans is currently a priority for the European Union and that Serbia will have to be talked with, so he does not expect that President Aleksandar Vucic visiting Moscow last week could have serious consequences for the country and its leadership.

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He added that there were objections to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's trip to Russia in Brussels and London, but, he noted, there were no objections from Washington.

"Even if Vucic had not been to Moscow, they would have asked us to impose sanctions against Russia and the (same) criteria would have been in place. Therefore, I don't know what sanctions they can impose (against Serbia), since they unblocked the first tranche of the Growth Plan, which shows the political will not to antagonize Serbia... They unblocked it after Marta Kos returned (from Belgrade), and after the announcement of the arrivals of (Antonio) Costa and Kaja Kallas," Milivojevic told Tanjug.

Asked why there was so much commotion in the EU about Vucic's visit to Moscow, Milivojevic said that happened in the current political context in Europe, and added that opinions of individual member states should be distinguished from the opinion of the administration in Brussels.

"When you look at the geopolitical interest and the strategic interest to expand (the EU), the region is in the foreground again, rather than the Eastern policy, regardless of the promises to Ukraine. It's not logical that a country that is in a state of war... should be accepted ahead of another that has been a candidate for years," Milivojevic told Tanjug.

He also said that Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia - all represent one package that cannot be untangled from Serbia, if the goal is for it to be geopolitically and politically positive in the long term.

Asked if it is possible to solve complex regional problems without President Vucic, Milivojevic replied that it is not, and added that EU officials will continue to come to Belgrade, because they do not see an alternative to the SNS government here.

Milivojevic assessed that the only sanction of major importance to Serbia would be the termination of accession negotiations, but according to him, that is not possible, because it requires consensus among all 27 EU member countries.

"The enlargement policy is the exclusive competence of the (EU) Council and according to the constitution, according to the Lisbon Treaty, there must be absolute consensus. The enlargement policy is the number one topic. Therefore, if it were to go to the Council - currently there is no consensus, not only because of Slovakia and Hungary, but also France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, so there is no chance of reaching consensus," said Milivojevic.

He pointed out that sanctioning Serbia would only be possible within the scope of the competence of the EU Commission and that could concern some programs, projects...

When it comes to individual sanctions, in relation to President Vucic, Milivojevic said that could take the form of not inviting him to some meetings, gatherings, but, then there are no discussions in the region - so he believes that this will not happen.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)