The Commission chief urged Serbia to “get concrete” about its EU path but stopped short of confronting Vučić on democratic backsliding and alignment with Russia.When Ursula von der Leyen stepped before the cameras in Belgrade on 15 October, her tone was unmistakably deliberate – poised between encouragement and warning. The European Commission president thanked Serbia for the opportunity for an “open and frank discussion,” but her words were also an unambiguous reminder that EU membership is not a sentimental promise but a contract grounded in values.
“In a fractured world, between democracies and autocracies, you know where the EU stands,” von der Leyen said, listing “freedom instead of oppression” and “diplomacy instead of aggression.” It was a message tailored for President Aleksandar Vučić, whose government has spent years balancing between Brussels and Moscow while tightening control over media and institutions at home.
Von der Leyen’s yet spoke of partnership, not punishment. But the message was clear: Serbia’s place in Europe will depend on deeds, not declarations. “Now is the moment for Serbia to get concrete about joining our Union,” she said, naming the rule of law, the electoral framework and media freedom as the true tests of commitment.
The Commission chief highlighted projects connecting Serbia to the EU’s energy market – the Trans-Balkan Power Corridor, the Serbia-Bulgaria gas interconnector – as tangible examples of solidarity. She reminded Belgrade that during the 2022 energy crisis, triggered by Russia’s war against Ukraine, the EU treated the Western Balkans as partners, not outsiders. Yet her reference to “alignment with EU foreign policy, including sanctions against Russia” exposed the growing frustration in Brussels with Serbia’s selective loyalty. “We need to see greater alignment with our foreign policy, including on sanctions against Russia. I commend you for reaching 61% of alignment with our foreign policy. But more is needed. We want to count on Serbia as a reliable partner”, Ursula von der Leyen said.
This alignment should be 100% if a candidate country wants to join the EU.
Vučić, for his part, played the familiar role of the conciliatory yet defensive statesman. He praised von der Leyen as “one of the few world officials who have visited not only Belgrade but also poorer parts of Serbia,” reiterating that EU membership remains his country’s “strategic priority.” But he quickly shifted to grievance: “Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, we have not opened a single negotiation chapter.” The problem, he implied, was not in Belgrade’s hesitation but in Brussels’ politics.
The Serbian president’s remarks veered between appeals for understanding and subtle defiance. He cited progress on voter registers and media regulation but insisted that “much remains to be done.” He complained that the national oil company NIS is under U.S. sanctions, effectively putting it under European restrictions as well. He asked von der Leyen to lift EU tariffs and quotas on Serbian steel. What he did not mention was more telling: Serbia’s refusal to align with EU sanctions against Russia, the violent suppression of anti-government protests, and the growing nationalist rhetoric from his inner circle. His ally Aleksandar Vulin recently declared that “every step towards the EU is a step away from Serbia’s sovereignty and friends.”
On 11 July 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Vulin, Serbia’s Director of the Security Information Agency and former Minister of Defense and Interior, for his alleged deep ties to transnational organised crime and enabling Russia’s malign influence in the Western Balkans.
In May 2021, while serving as Interior Minister, Vulin oversaw Serbian police operations that wiretapped a private meeting in Belgrade of prominent Russian dissidents, including Vladimir Kara-Murza (a journalist and activist later imprisoned in Russia), Andrei Pivovarov (a former opposition politician), and lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov.
For all her diplomatic restraint, von der Leyen’s message was also a test of credibility for Brussels, as many question if the EU can remain both principled and pragmatic when faced with a partner that plays by its own rules.