European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has urged Serbia to make tangible progress on democratic reforms and to align its foreign policy with the European Union, including the imposition of sanctions on Russia, if it wishes to advance its accession bid.
Speaking alongside President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade on Wednesday, von der Leyen said “now is the moment for Serbia to get concrete about joining our Union,” listing the rule of law, the electoral framework and media freedom as immediate priorities. She added that Brussels “needs to see greater alignment on our foreign policy, including sanctions against Russia.”
Serbia remains the only country in Europe not to have adopted restrictive measures against Moscow following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While the government maintains that EU membership is a strategic goal, Belgrade has deepened ties with Russia and China, and has not moved to mirror EU sanctions. Vučić has repeatedly resisted calls to change course, saying Serbia will protect its national interests.
Von der Leyen’s visit comes amid sustained anti-government demonstrations that began after the collapse of a newly renovated canopy at Novi Sad’s main railway station on 1 November 2024, which killed 16 people. The tragedy triggered months of protests by students and other groups alleging corruption and negligence in infrastructure deals involving Chinese firms, and accusing authorities of a heavy-handed response. Police tactics and arrests during the protests have drawn criticism from domestic and international observers.
At their joint press conference, von der Leyen framed the EU’s expectations in terms of democratic standards and external policy alignment. “We live in a fractured world with a widening gap between democracies and autocracies,” she said, underscoring that the EU stands for “freedom … partnership … [and] diplomacy.” Her remarks reflected Brussels’ broader concern that a lack of reform momentum in Serbia, combined with non-alignment on sanctions, risks undermining the credibility of the accession process.
Energy security featured prominently. The Commission chief invited Serbia to join the EU’s joint gas-purchasing platform as part of efforts to reduce the region’s reliance on Russian supplies. Serbia sources the majority of its gas from Russia and has faced renewed pressure after U.S. sanctions targeting the Russian-owned NIS oil company—Serbia’s largest importer and refiner—prompted disruptions to crude deliveries via neighbouring states. Vučić warned of a “tough winter” and sought EU support while signalling plans to diversify supply routes.
For Brussels, alignment on Russia sanctions is a yardstick of credibility for candidate countries. The EU has rolled out successive packages of measures since 2014, significantly expanding them after February 2022 to include financial, energy and trade restrictions. The Commission has repeatedly said that closer integration of Western Balkan economies with the EU single market will be conditional on reforms and on foreign-policy alignment, including sanctions where applicable.
Domestic politics complicate the calculus. Protesters are calling for early parliamentary elections and accountability over the Novi Sad disaster. Rights groups and opposition figures allege that security forces used excessive force and that public-sector employees faced reprisals for participating in demonstrations. The government disputes those claims, with Vučić stating that police used “minimum force.” The persistence of protests has nonetheless sharpened EU scrutiny of Serbia’s democratic trajectory, particularly in areas such as media freedom, electoral conditions and judicial independence—files that sit at the core of accession chapters.
Von der Leyen’s stop in Belgrade is part of a wider tour of Western Balkan aspirants—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia—aimed at maintaining momentum behind enlargement against a backdrop of geopolitical competition. The EU’s growth plan for the region foresees access to funds and gradual market integration in return for measurable reforms. In Serbia’s case, the Commission’s message links progress on the rule of law and media environment with concrete steps on foreign-policy alignment, notably towards Russia.
Belgrade’s choices in the coming months will determine the pace of its EU path. Participation in the EU’s gas-buying scheme could ease near-term energy pressures and signal a tilt towards closer market integration. However, the question of sanctions remains central. Serbian officials have floated conditional scenarios for alignment, suggesting sanctions might be considered only when accession is “in sight,” a position that Brussels is unlikely to accept as sufficient. For now, the Commission’s position is clear: credible reforms at home and alignment abroad are prerequisites, not optional extras, for a candidate seeking to move forward.
