Vucic at working dinner with von der Leyen in Brussels
The Serbian president talked to the European Commission president and the Council president about Serbia's EU path, energy and regional cooperation.
President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic attended a working dinner in Brussels hosted by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa, where the talks covered Serbia’s EU path, energy security, regional stability and the forthcoming EU-Western Balkans summit on 5 June in Tivat, the public broadcaster RTS reports.
After the dinner, Vucic said Serbia is “firmly committed to EU membership” and remains “a reliable and responsible partner” for Brussels, adding that the Serbian side had received concrete signals of the Union’s readiness to continue enlargement at a realistic pace. According to the president’s office, the talks covered energy stability in the context of the sanctions regime against Russia and the flow of European funds tied to reforms.
European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho confirmed to the Pravda Balkan portal that President von der Leyen had also held a separate weekend phone call with Vucic on the Tivat summit and the state of reforms. The agenda for the meeting, the spokeswoman said, includes judicial reform, where the independence of institutions is identified as “the crowning proof” of fulfilment of the key negotiation chapters, and the application of the media laws, recognised as a test of implementing the commitments taken on.
Can Serbia open new chapters before the Tivat summit?
The European Commission, the daily Danas reports, is not expected to formally open a new negotiation chapter before the 5 June summit, but talks are under way on speeding up preparation of the cluster on free movement of workers. Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos in March rejected a joint Vucic-Edi Rama proposal for an accelerated European integration formula for individual candidates, a theme the two leaders are likely to return to in Tivat.
From the opposition ranks, Vladeta Jankovic of the People’s Party said Vucic should be bringing to Brussels “concrete reforms, not diplomatic formulas”, while Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta of the Ecological Uprising said the priority for the public must remain meeting the rule-of-law criteria, particularly on the media and judiciary. From the government side, European Integration Minister Tanja Miscevic said the meeting is “further proof” of an open-channels policy and that the government continues to prepare interim benchmarks on chapters 23 and 24.
From the Brussels corridors, according to unnamed diplomatic sources cited by N1, European leaders carefully framed their message on the integration tempo, avoiding promises with precise dates that could later turn against the process itself. In a recent public address Vucic said the goal is for Serbia to become an EU member by 2028, which in dialogue with Brussels has remained a framework but not a formal obligation.
The Russian media followed Vucic’s Brussels visit closely, the daily Danas notes in a review of foreign-portal reactions, framing the meeting as “an attempt by the European side to win more diplomatic space before Vucic’s trip to Beijing”. On the Serbian side, the Foreign Ministry issued a short statement rejecting the framing of “a choice between east and west”, saying the balancing policy is “a permanent framework of foreign policy”. From the European External Action Service, spokeswoman Anouar Lahouari (Anouk Lokers in Serbian transliteration) said Brussels had not “set conditions” on Belgrade over its planned bilateral contacts, but expects consistency in fulfilling accession commitments, primarily in chapters 23 and 24 on the judiciary and fundamental rights.
The meeting in Brussels ended at around 11 p.m. Central European Time. The next concrete date is the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tivat on 5 June, at which a formal declaration on the region’s progress and the individual steps expected of candidates in the next 12 months is anticipated.
