Membership in the European Union is a clear path and goal for Serbia, declared Prime Minister Djuro Macut in Wednesday’s New Year’s interview for the Tanjug agency. According to him, the Serbian government has clearly declared its support for European integration in recent months, but he also pointed out the need to reach a broader national consensus on this issue. TASR informs about it.
- The Prime Minister of Serbia emphasized the importance of EU membership as a key goal.
- Emphasis is placed on creating a national consensus on this issue.
- Serbia has a stable economy with growing indicators.
- According to polls, public support for joining the EU is falling.
- The reports of the European Commission point to the stagnation of democratic development.
“If we want to go further, to get to where we already belong, we need to create a national consensus on at least something, for example, on the issue of joining Europe (EU),” declared Macut. At the same time, he pointed out the inconsistency of opinions among citizens on joining the bloc of 27 states. “All European countries that have joined the EU have reached a national consensus,” he said.
At the same time, the Prime Minister pointed out that Serbia is too small at the global level to be able to determine policy, but it plays an important role in the regional context. “We are the most important for ourselves, but at the same time we are also very strong in the regional context. This is important from the point of view of the Western Balkans and the whole enlargement system,” he noted.
He pointed to the economy
He highlighted its economic situation as one of the country’s strengths. “Our economy is the most stable not only in the Western Balkans, but also beyond its borders, if we look at the context of other countries. We are among the fastest growing economies. That is a factual situation. Absolutely no one can dispute that,” he underlined.
However, public trust in Serbia towards the European Union is declining, according to surveys, after four years without the opening of a single new chapter of accession negotiations. According to a recent survey for the Savremena politika portal, in a hypothetical referendum on EU membership, 35.8 percent of respondents would vote for entry, while 33 percent would be against.
The European Commission’s last two reports on Serbia’s progress in the accession process, published at the end of 2024 and 2025, noted stagnation in the areas of democratic institutions, the rule of law, media freedom and freedom of expression. At the same time, they pointed to the strengthening of repressive measures during anti-government protests that began in 2024. The EU member states recently also did not support the opening of a group of eight chapters related to competitiveness and inclusive growth.
