Accession of Serbia To The European Union - Serbian Government Stance

Serbian Government Stance

The government of Serbia wants to prepare the country for EU accession between 2012 and 2015. However, it seems much more likely that it would happen later than announced due to many domestic problems and extensive reforms that should be implemented. The Serbian government has declared that the status of the Kosovo region should not be tied with the EU negotiations. As of September 2012, the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Štefan Füle, has denied that the European Union will insist on Serbia's recognition of Kosovo before it can join the organization.

Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement on 29 April 2008. Vojislav Koštunica, Serbian Prime Minister at the time, said on 1 May that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was right when he said that the SAA should have been signed. But one day later, on 2 May 2008, he vowed to annul the agreement after the election, calling it "a trick", "Solana's agreement" and "the Tadić-Đelić SAA signature". After the Serbian parliamentary election, 2008, a new parliamentary majority and government was formed and the SAA opposition was left without political power. The new Serbian Prime Minister, Mirko Cvetković, announced “One of the first moves of the new government will be to submit the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union to the parliament for ratification.” As of January 2009 the Serbian government has started to implement its obligations under the agreement unilaterally. The effects remain to be evaluated by the European Commission.

According to a survey by the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, as of November 2009, support for accession among Serbians was 71 percent. However, that support has rapidly dropped, falling to around 60% in late 2010 and 42.4% in April 2011.