Costa Visits Belgrade Ahead of EU and Western Balkans Summit in Tivat
European Council President Antonio Costa arrives in Belgrade on June 3 and 4 to discuss with Vucic the terms for opening Cluster 3, two days before the Tivat summit.
- Antonio Costa is in Belgrade on June 3 and 4, two days before the Tivat summit.
- His talks with Vucic centre on opening Cluster 3, which the EU ties to reforms.
- In four years as a candidate, Serbia has not opened a single new chapter.
- Trade between Serbia and the EU runs at roughly 53 billion euros a year.
Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, arrives in Belgrade on June 3 and 4 for talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. The timing is deliberate: the visit comes just ahead of the European Union and Western Balkans summit, held in Tivat on June 5, which Vucic attends at the invitation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
These two days are not a courtesy call. Costa comes to nail down the conditions under which Cluster 3, the negotiating package on competitiveness and inclusive growth, could be opened. For Serbia it is one of the decisive steps toward membership. After Belgrade, Costa travels on to Tivat, where the summit will bring together the region’s leaders and the Union.
What does the EU want before opening Cluster 3?
Brussels is not offering Cluster 3 for free. The European Commission ties it to concrete reforms, and three of them stand out as the most sensitive:
- media freedom and the position of journalists,
- curbing corruption and strengthening the judiciary,
- amending the electoral law in line with observers’ recommendations.
The numbers tell a story of slow progress. Serbia won candidate status more than a decade ago, yet over the past four years it has not opened a single new negotiating chapter. That is the point Brussels is almost certain to press in Belgrade, because the willingness to meet is no longer in question. The outcome on the ground is.
The economics, by contrast, argue for keeping the process alive. Trade between Serbia and the European Union runs at around 53 billion euros a year, making the Union by far the country’s most important economic partner. That figure is both Brussels’ argument that integration serves a shared interest and a reminder to Belgrade of just how deep the ties to the European market run.
Where do the talks lead before Tivat?
The message Costa brings to Belgrade has already been said out loud. “Serbia’s future is in the EU, the ball is now in your court,” the European Council President stated, putting the responsibility for the next move squarely on Belgrade.
Serbia’s future is in the EU, the ball is now in your court.
That turns the visit into a kind of test run before the summit. If Belgrade and Brussels agree on reform steps, Tivat could deliver a concrete signal on opening Cluster 3. If the talks stay at the level of principle, the summit will likely repeat the familiar line about a European perspective with no date attached.
For Vucic the schedule is clear: two days in Belgrade with Costa, then the joint trip to Tivat, where the results of those talks will be on display before the region’s other leaders and the Union. The open question is as old as the process itself. Will Serbia this time turn the announcement into a chapter that actually opens, or will Tivat end up as one more summit of good intentions?
What do you think, will Antonio Costa’s visit move the Serbia and EU talks off dead centre?
