Accession of Serbia to the European Union

Negotiations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro) intensified following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, and the EU officially declared the Balkan states potential candidates for membership following the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki in 2003.{{cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/pres_03_163 |title=Eu-Western Balkans Summit Thessaloniki, 21 June 2003 Press Release |website=europa.eu | date=21 June 2003 |archive-date=20 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320004213/http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_PRES-03-163_en.htm |url-status=live}}

On 7 November 2007, Serbia initiated a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union. The SAA came into force on 1 September 2013.

The European Commission recommended making Serbia an official candidate on 12 October 2011. The Council also made the recommendation on 28 February 2012.

Serbia received full candidate status on 1 March 2012. In December 2013, the Council of the European Union approved opening negotiations for Serbia's accession.

Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on 22 December 2009.

Until 2020, Serbia had been receiving €2.9bn of developmental aid from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, a funding mechanism for EU candidate countries.

{{See also|Serbia–NATO relations}}

Serbia refused to join international sanctions against Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In response, the European Parliament passed a resolution that stated in part it "strongly regrets Serbia’s non-alignment with EU sanctions against Russia, which damages its EU accession process."{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-russia-serbia-aleksandar-vucic/|title=Pandering to Putin comes back to bite Serbia's Vučić|date=2022-03-07|accessdate=2022-03-07|publisher=Politico}}

{{see also|Kosovo–Serbia relations|Belgrade–Pristina dialogue|Kosovo independence precedent}}

The biggest obstacle to Serbia's accession to the EU is its strained relationship with Kosovo, which escalated after the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence. The Serbian government has declared that the status of Kosovo should not be tied to the EU negotiations. In 2012, the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Štefan Füle, denied that the European Union would insist on Serbia's recognition of Kosovo before it can join the organisation.{{cite news |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2012/09/05/eu-does-not-request-serbia-to-recognize-kosovo/ |title=EU: Serbia Does Not Have to Recognize Kosovo :: Balkan Insight |work=Balkan Insight |date=5 September 2012 |archive-date=7 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907174316/http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-does-not-request-serbia-to-recognize-kosovo |url-status=live}}

In 2013, the governments of Kosovo and Serbia completed the Brussels Agreement, which was hailed as a major step towards normalising relations and enabled the start of EU accession talks with Serbia.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-serbia-idUSBRE93L0AQ20130422 |title=EU Commission recommends start of Serbia membership talks |work=Reuters |date=22 April 2013 |archive-date=24 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124035423/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-serbia-idUSBRE93L0AQ20130422|url-status=live}} Later that year, Kosovo's Minister of Foreign Affairs Enver Hoxhaj suggested that the EU should approve the accession of Kosovo and Serbia simultaneously due to concerns that if Serbia was admitted first they could veto Kosovo's membership.{{cite news | url=https://www.rferl.org/a/wider-europe-briefing-jozwiak-kosovo-council-europe-russia-sanctions-ukraine/32905823.html | title=Wider Europe Briefing: Kosovo Could Finally Get In The Council Of Europe | first=Rikard | last=Jozwiak | work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty | date=15 April 2024}} However, Serbia's accession negotiations were not halted.

In 2021, the European Parliament adopted a report on Serbia, which, amongst other things, emphasized that the normalization of relationships between Serbia and Kosovo is "a priority and a requirement for EU accession."{{cite news |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/european-parliament-adopts-serbias-eu-progress-report/ |title=European Parliament adopts Serbia's EU progress report | work=Euractiv |date=26 March 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412081517/https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/european-parliament-adopts-serbias-eu-progress-report/|url-status=live}}

In December 2024, the opening of remaining chapters in cluster 3 was postponed partially due to "substantial further progress made by Serbia, in particular in accordance with...the normalisation of relations with Kosovo",{{Cite web|title=Council conclusions on Enlargement (16983/24)|url=https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-16983-2024-INIT/en/pdf|website=Consilium |publisher=General Secretariat of the Council|format=PDF|date=17 December 2024|access-date=21 December 2024}}{{Cite web|title=Serbia's accession negotiations remain blocked|url=https://n1info.ba/english/news/serbias-accession-negotiations-remain-blocked/|publisher=N1 Sarajevo|date=17 December 2024|access-date=28 December 2024}} further evidencing an expectation that the country address the issue as part of accession negotiations.

No further progress on the opening or closing of chapters have been achieved since December 2021. Benchmarks were met for the opening of all three remaining chapters in cluster 3 (chapter 10, 16 and 19) in December 2024, but this was postponed due the opening being conditional on "substantial further progress made by Serbia, in particular in accordance with...the rule of law (chapter 23+24) and the normalisation of relations with Kosovo".

Serbian public was initially supportive of accession in the past due to better relationships with countries in the European Union, as well as for economic reasons. In the last decades because of the support of Kosovo's independence by most European countries, the economic crisis, the better relationships with the United States in addition to giving sanctions against Russia during the Russian invasion in Ukraine, support for EU membership went down. Serbia has become more opposed to the Western NATO bloc and prefer better ties and relationships with, for example, Russia for its support over the Kosovo dispute and China with its large economy and similar soft alliance with Russia.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

A February 2024 NSPM poll recorded that 42.8% were for joining the EU, with 36.8% against. The rest were undecided or refused to give the answer. Another poll recorded the question "Would you support joining the EU if recognizing the independence of Kosovo was a condition for joining it?", 76% answered no, compared to 12.2% who said yes.{{Cite web |title=Србија, фебруар 2024 - спољнополитичке оријентације, партнерства и лидери |url=http://www.nspm.rs/istrazivanja-javnog-mnjenja/srbija-februar-2024-spoljnopoliticke-orijentacije-partnerstva-i-lideri.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501191925/http://www.nspm.rs/istrazivanja-javnog-mnjenja/srbija-februar-2024-spoljnopoliticke-orijentacije-partnerstva-i-lideri.html |archive-date=2024-05-01 |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=Nova srpska politička misao |language=sr}}

A March 2025 NPSM poll found that if a referendum on joining the EU took place, 38.9% would vote in favour of joining the EU, with 43.2% voting against, and 17.9% unsure or abstaining.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nspm.rs/istrazivanja-javnog-mnjenja/srbija-mart-2025.-i.html |date=2025-03-14 |title=Србија, март 2025.(I) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250314030546/http://www.nspm.rs/istrazivanja-javnog-mnjenja/srbija-mart-2025.-i.html |archive-date=2025-03-14 |website=Nova srpska politička misao |language=sr}}

==See also==

• Accession of Albania to the European Union
• Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union
• Accession of Kosovo to the European Union
• Accession of Montenegro to the European Union
• Accession of North Macedonia to the European Union
• Yugoslavia–European Communities relations
• Central European Free Trade Agreement
• Open Balkan
• Craiova Group

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal|last=Radojičić|first=Mirjana S.|title=Evropska unija i Kosovsko pitanje – međunarodno-etička perspektiva|journal=Zbornik Radova Filozofskog Fakulteta u Prištini|year=2015|volume=45|issue=1|pages=167–184|doi=10.5937/zrffp45-7157|url=http://rifdt.instifdt.bg.ac.rs/123456789/1563|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal|last=Samardžić|first=Slobodan|year=2009|title=The Kosovo-Metohija problem from the European integrations angle|editor=Samardžić, Slobodan|journal=Serbia in the European Union Association Process, Službeni Glasnik|pages=193–238}}
• {{cite journal|author1=Jovanović Nadica|author2=Gardašević Jovana|author3=Vapa-Tankosić Jelena|title=Strategija procesa proširenja Evropske unije i društveno-ekonomski efekti integracije Republike Srbije|journal=Poslovna Ekonomija|volume=9|issue=2|pages=191–212|year=2015}}
• {{cite journal|last=Gajić|first=Tamara|title=Ulazak Srbije u EU, civilno društvo i politička kultura|journal=Politikon|volume=10|pages=119–131|year=2015}}

• [http://www.mfa.rs/ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180217193326/http://www.seio.gov.rs/home.50.html The EU integration Office]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091223124202/http://www.iss.europa.eu/nc/actualites/actualite/article/war-crimes-conditionality-and-eu-integration-in-the-western-balkans/ War crimes, conditionality and EU integration in the Western Balkans], by Vojin Dimitrijević, Florence Hartmann, Dejan Jović, Tija Memišević, edited by Judy Batt, Jelena Obradović, Chaillot Paper No. 116, June 2009, European Union Institute for Security Studies

{{EU countries and candidates}}

{{Foreign relations of Serbia}}

{{External relations of the European Union}}

{{Berlin Process}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Accession of Serbia to the European Union}}

Serbia

Category:Foreign relations of Serbia

Category:Serbia–European Union relations