Berliner Zeitung: Vučić pretends to want to join the EU for benefits, and Brussels knows it
The ambition Serbia shows to join the European Union is just a show because it allows Belgrade to receive money from the EU, and the irony is that Brussels is aware of this, but still finances Serbia, stated Balkan expert and former senior official of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Kosovo, Edward P. Joseph.
Berliner Zeitung: Vučić pretends to want to join the EU for benefits, and Brussels knows it Edward P. Joseph, a Balkan expert, asserts that Serbia’s ambition to join the EU is a performance to secure funding while simultaneously developing strategic partnerships with Russia and China. He points out that Serbia’s progress in EU accession talks is significantly slower than other candidate countries, suggesting a lack of genuine commitment. Joseph criticizes the EU for applying double standards by continuing to finance Serbia despite its refusal to impose sanctions on Russia or Iran, and for allowing Russian propaganda platforms to operate freely.
- Serbia’s ambition to join the EU is a facade to receive funds from the EU.
- Serbia simultaneously strengthens strategic partnerships with Russia and China.
- EU is aware of Serbia’s ‘charade’ but continues to finance it, applying double standards.
- Serbia has opened only 22 out of 35 chapters in EU accession talks in 12 years as a candidate.
- Joseph compares Vučić’s path to autocracy to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
- He criticizes the US and EU for allowing Serbia to host Russian propaganda platforms.
- A proposed joint entry into the EU for Serbia and Albania without veto power is seen as a ‘Trojan horse’.
- The expert believes that forcing Kosovo’s path to NATO would compel Serbia to accept reality.
- There is no alternative for Serbia other than the EU; it cannot become the ‘Belarus of Europe’.
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