Serbia's New Leaders Meet the EU's Russia Test
The EU's enlargement chief says Serbia cannot make real progress toward membership without lining up with Europe on Russia. Leading figures in the winning Student List say it will not impose sanctions on Moscow.
The House of the National Assembly of Serbia in Belgrade, November 2023.Illustration by The Good Times, based on a photo by kallerna / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Serbia's Student List, the movement that grew out of student protests against the government of Aleksandar Vučić, won the parliamentary election and is now forming a government. The European Union's enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos, has set out what that government faces on Russia. Asked whether Serbia could join the EU without imposing sanctions on Russia, she said it would be very difficult for a country that does not align with the bloc on foreign and security policy, particularly over Russia's war in Ukraine, to make progress. Kos has spoken with Ilija Srdanović, the Student List's lead candidate. Two of the list's prominent figures, the sociologist Jovo Bakić and the chemist Radomir Saičić, have said the new government will not impose sanctions on Moscow. Saičić told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that problems should be resolved through dialogue, negotiations and agreements, not sanctions. The two positions now meet in Belgrade.
What Brussels said
"It will not be possible for a country that does not align with us on matters of strategic interest, such as foreign and security policy and the joint fight against Russia, particularly in the context of Russia's war in Ukraine, to make progress. That will be very, very difficult," Kos said, according to Kosovo Online, citing the Serbian daily Novosti. Euronews carried the same remarks in a slightly different translation. Kos spoke with Srdanović after the election, Kosovo Online and Euronews reported.
What the Student List says
"As we stated in our programme, the Students' List does not advocate imposing sanctions against Russia," Saičić told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, according to Euronews and B92. "Problems should be resolved through dialogue, negotiations and agreements, not sanctions," he said, according to the same outlets.
Bakić has said a new government would not impose sanctions on Moscow and that sanctions from a country of Serbia's size would have little practical effect on Russia but symbolic costs, according to Euronews and TASS. Before the vote, the movement published a platform saying Serbia would "maintain its principled stance against imposing restrictive measures on the Russian Federation," N1 reported.
Where that leaves the two sides
The EU links progress on membership to alignment with its foreign policy on Russia; the incoming government's leading figures say they will not adopt sanctions. How that is resolved will depend on what the new government does once it takes office, Kos said, according to Kosovo Online and Euronews.