On Monday, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic canceled the summit of the Western Balkans, which was supposed to be held in May. As the reason, he cited the statements of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučič, which, according to him, threaten regional stability, AFP reported, writes TASR.
In short:
- Croatian President Zoran Milanovič canceled the May summit of the Western Balkans
- He cited the destabilizing statements of Serbian President Vucic as the official reason for the cancellation
- Milanovič claims that Vučić’s actions threaten the peace and stability of Southeastern Europe
The annual summits of the initiative known as the Brdo-Brijuni Process bring together the presidents of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia. The summit was initiated in 2013 by Croatia and Slovenia as member states of the European Union with the aim of improving cooperation between the Western Balkan countries and speeding up their integration into the EU.
Milanovič criticizes Vučič
Milanovic said in a statement on Monday that Vučić’s political actions in “recent days and weeks are undermining interstate relations and threatening peace and stability in Southeastern Europe.”
Under such circumstances, according to Milanovič, the conditions are not created for Vučić to visit Croatia, and therefore the May summit is cancelled.
The Croatian president added that the next summit will take place when the conditions for it are met and after consultations with the Slovenian president Nataša Pircová Musarová.
Allegations of alliance against Serbia
Milanovič did not comment further on the statements of his Serbian colleague. AFP added that the Serbian president has repeatedly accused Albania, Croatia and Kosovo, which signed a declaration on defense and security cooperation in March 2025, of creating a “military alliance” against Serbia. According to Vučič’s words from Monday, he also informed Russian President Vladimir Putin about this initiative of theirs in a phone call.
At the beginning of March, Vučić, while explaining the purchase of Chinese cruise missiles by Serbia, said that the aforementioned three states were waiting for a larger global conflict to attack Serbia. Serbia is preparing for such a scenario, assured Vucic.
Tense historical relations
Relations between Serbia and Croatia have been strained since the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s, during which Serbia politically and militarily supported ethnic Serb insurgents.
