German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that Serbia “must clearly decide where it sees its future”, at a summit between the EU and candidate states for the bloc in the Balkans.
“There can’t be policy of swinging between Russia, China and Europe,” Merz said at the summit in Montenegro, adding: “When the answer from Serbia is ‘Europe’, then the answer from Europe will be ‘Serbia'”.
“The way is open for Serbia to the European Union, but Serbia must decide where it stands,” he said.
With a population of 6.6 million, Serbia is the largest country in the western Balkans and is also among the most eurosceptic countries in the region, with public support for EU membership below 50 percent.
Belgrade maintains close ties with Moscow, and last year President Aleksandar Vucic went to Russia to take part in commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of victory in World War Two.
Serbia has also maintained close ties to China and has benefited from a boom in Chinese investment over the past decade.
Last month, Vucic visited China and the two countries signed a slew of bilateral agreements on trade, technology and education.
Vucic was also at Friday’s summit and said that he had had “very good meetings” with Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa.
“Of course, we have to carry out numerous reforms,” Vucic told Serbian media but added that “there were no sermons or lectures from anyone, they treated us with respect”.
“We are on the path towards the EU. It is our strategic objective,” he said.
