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The accession of
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
to the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
(EU) has been on the current agenda for the future enlargement of the EU since 2012, when it became a candidate for accession. Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on 22 December 2009. Accession negotiations are currently ongoing. Serbia is expected to complete its negotiations by the end of 2024, allowing it to join the European Union by 2025. It is one of seven current EU candidate countries, together with
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
,
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
,
Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...
,
North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
and
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
.


History


Identification

Negotiations with the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
(later the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro) intensified following the election defeat and ousting of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, and the EU officially declared the Balkan states potential candidates for membership following the EU-Western Balkans Summit in
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
on 21 June 2003.


Stabilisation and Association Agreement

On 7 November 2007, Serbia initiated a
Stabilisation and Association Agreement In talks with countries that have expressed a wish to join the European Union, the EU typically concludes Association Agreements in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade, or human rights reform in that country. In exchange, th ...
(SAA) with the European Union. The SSA came into force on 1 September 2013.


Recommendation

The
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
recommended making Serbia an official candidate on 12 October 2011. The
Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
also made the recommendation on 28 February 2012.


Candidacy

Serbia received full candidate status on 1 March 2012. In December 2013, the Council of the European Union approved opening negotiations for Serbia's accession.


Application

Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on 22 December 2009.


Developmental Aid

Until 2020, Serbia had been receiving €2.9bn of developmental aid from the
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, or simply IPA, is a funding mechanism of the European Union. As of 2007, it replaced previous programmes such as the PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD SAPARD (Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural ...
, a funding mechanism for EU candidate countries.


Chronology of relations with the EU


Foreign Policy

Serbia refused to join Western sanctions against Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In response, the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
passed a resolution which stated in part it "strongly regrets Serbia’s non-alignment with EU sanctions against Russia, which damages its EU accession process."


Serbia and Kosovo

The biggest obstacle between Serbia's accession to the EU is its strained relationship with
Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
, which declared its independence on 17 February 2008. The Serbian government has declared that the status of Kosovo should not be tied with the EU negotiations. In September 2012, the EU Enlargement Commissioner,
Štefan Füle Štefan Füle (born 24 May 1962 in Sokolov) is a former Czech diplomat who served as the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy from February 2010 until October 2014. Early life and education Füle was born on ...
, denied that the European Union would insist on Serbia's recognition of Kosovo before it can join the organisation. On 19 April 2013, the governments of Kosovo and Serbia completed the Brussels Agreement, which was hailed as a major step towards normalising relations and enabled the start of EU accession talks with Serbia. In November 2013, Kosovo's Minister of Foreign Affairs
Enver Hoxhaj Enver Hoxhaj (born 4 October 1969) is a Kosovar politician.https://www.kuvendikosoves.org/shq/kryesia/ He served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo and a Former Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo. Career Hoxhaj ser ...
suggested that the EU should approve the accession of Kosovo and Serbia simultaneously due to concerns that if Serbia was admitted first they could veto Kosovo's membership. However, Serbia's accession negotiations were not halted. In March 2021, the European Parliament adopted a report on Serbia, which, amongst other things, emphasized that the normalization of relationships between Serbia and Kosovo is “a priority and a requirement for EU accession”.


Negotiations


Public opinion

The results of opinion polling vary drastically depending on the question asked. An August 2017 poll recorded that 51.2% were in favour of joining the EU, 36.3% were against and 12.5% undecided. However, the same poll also asked: "if recognizing the independence of Kosovo were a condition of joining the EU, do you think that condition should be accepted?", to which 12.1% answered yes, 70.6% no and 17.3% were undecided.


Visa liberalisation process

On 1 January 2008, the Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreement between Serbia and the EU came into effect. On 19 December 2009, Visa requirements were lifted for Serbs travelling to Schengen countries.


Impact of joining


See also

* Enlargement of NATO *
Euro-Slavism Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had rule ...


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links


Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia



War crimes, conditionality and EU integration in the Western Balkans
by Vojin Dimitrijević, Florence Hartmann,
Dejan Jović Dejan Jović (; born 12 April 1968) is a political scientist from Croatia. He is a full-time professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Zagreb. From 2012 to 2020, Jović was editor-in-chief of the '' Croatian Political S ...
, Tija Memišević, edited by Judy Batt, Jelena Obradović, Chaillot Paper No. 116, June 2009,
European Union Institute for Security Studies The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) is a Paris-based agency of the European Union (EU) within the realm of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The EUISS is an autonomous agency with full intellectual freedom and res ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Accession of Serbia to the European Union
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
Foreign relations of Serbia Serbia–European Union relations