Serbia 2030 strategy moves into operational phase
The plan unveiled in March with 17 billion euros in investments now enters delivery through line ministries; the opposition is asking for parliamentary scrutiny.
The “Serbia 2030” national strategy, which President Aleksandar Vucic unveiled on 7 March 2026 at the Palace of Serbia, is moving into operational delivery through the line ministries, the President’s Office said in May. The document set out on that occasion covers a programme worth 17 billion euros to 2030, with a further framework of 48 billion to 2035, excluding defence and police spending, according to the official statement of the Ministry for Savings and Technological Development.
The ten key points of the strategy, set out by the president in a two-hour address, cover preserving peace and military neutrality, raising the standard of living, healthcare reform with five billion euros of investment and an end to waiting lists, education reform, 14.4 billion euros of investment in the energy sector including a nuclear option, development of road and rail infrastructure, accelerated EU integration, strengthening the army and police, the development and use of artificial intelligence, and digital sovereignty, the must.gov.rs portal reports in its summary.
What economic measures does the strategy set out for 2030?
The economic targets defined in the strategy include a gross domestic product above 130 billion euros, equivalent to 20,755 euros per capita, an average wage of 1,700 euros and an average pension of 750 euros. The Fiscal Council, which analysed the document during April, judged the targets ambitious and said meeting them would require sustained GDP growth of around six per cent a year, above the average over the past decade.
From the opposition ranks, the leader of the Alliance for Serbia’s Victory parliamentary group Marinika Tepic said the strategy “looks like an election programme rather than a public policy” and called for a parliamentary debate on financing sources. Vladeta Jankovic of the People’s Party queried the structure of the 14.4 billion euros earmarked for energy, particularly in the context of any nuclear project, which in his view “would have to be preceded by a public discussion on the choice of technology and partner”. Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta of the Ecological Uprising echoed the same caution, saying development decisions must respect environmental impact assessment standards.
From the government side, Minister for Savings and Technological Development Tamara Vucic Aleksic added that the first concrete projects from the strategy have already been put out to tender in renewable energy and that the second half of 2026 will see the opening of tenders to build regional medical centres. Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said the document is consistent with the medium-term fiscal framework and would not require pushing public debt above 50 per cent of GDP.
In terms of European integration, the Balkan Insight portal notes that the part of the strategy on accelerated EU integration leans on the “second-tier membership” idea that President Vucic has previously raised in the context of accession to the EU. The idea was met with reservation in Brussels, with Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos already in March declining to back a joint Vucic-Edi Rama proposal for a special integration formula for individual candidates.
On artificial intelligence, the president said in his March address that “life depends on its use and no nation in the future will be able to develop without it”, a formulation that economists greeted with caution. Pavle Petrovic of the Fiscal Council said any concrete AI programmes would need defined success indicators, because “without measurable targets, projects risk becoming expensive but ineffective”. From the Chamber of Commerce side, its president Marija Marinkovic added that the private sector is already running its own AI initiatives, particularly in financial services and logistics, and expects the state strategy to define complementary, not competing, projects.
The next concrete date is the presentation of the first operational documents of the strategy, announced for 30 May in Belgrade, when line ministers are expected to set out the project schedules by year. The question remains how the government will reconcile delivery of these ambitious development goals with the parliamentary election calendar and the European negotiation clusters.
