Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the EU is “too supportive” of Ukraine while Serbia receives no support in its bid to join the EU.
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He noted that Ukraine was granted candidate country status only a year after submitting its application. Discussions about the start of accession negotiations also, in his opinion, indicate too much support.
There is growing dissatisfaction among the countries of the Western Balkans with the accelerated process of Ukraine’s accession to the EU, the Financial Times claims. In particular, countries such as Serbia, Albania and Montenegro consider the “privileges” that Ukraine allegedly receives on its way to the European Union due to the war against Russia to be unfair.
According to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, his country (applied to begin accession negotiations in 2014 – Rakurs) “could never count on such an attitude towards itself.”
At the same time, European Council President Charles Michel and other EU officials made it clear to Belgrade that without stabilizing relations with Kosovo and supporting Western sanctions against Russia, it would be difficult to count on progress on accession. Michel recently hinted that new members should be expected to join the EU closer to 2030.
In response, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama questioned the timing and joked that Ukraine’s example shows that “war can speed up membership.”
Who should attack someone to get membership faster? Bulgaria could easily attack North Macedonia, Croatia could attack Serbia, Serbia could attack Kosovo, Bosnia could attack itself… Perhaps then we could all join the train with Ukraine,” Rama said.
In contrast to its neighbors, North Macedonia takes a more balanced approach to Ukraine’s progress. The country’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani noted that Skopje does not consider Ukraine’s possible accession to the EU as competition.
The outcome of the war in Ukraine will determine the fate of the union itself. Ukraine should not be viewed as privileged, because Ukraine is fighting not only for itself, it is fighting for the future of the continent, the diplomat said.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.