Serbia will not attend a summit between European Union leaders and Western Balkan countries on Wednesday, President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Tuesday, in a move that underscores Belgrade’s stalled bid to join the bloc.
“For the first time in the past 13 or 14 years, neither I nor anyone else will attend that intergovernmental conference,” Vucic told Serbian media. “No one will represent the Republic of Serbia.”
Vucic said the decision was personal and aimed at protecting Serbia’s interests, without elaborating further.
Serbia was granted EU candidate status in 2012 but has made little progress in accession talks in recent years, with no major milestones reached since 2021, according to EU officials.
The decision follows a dinner meeting in Brussels on Dec. 10 with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa. Vucic said he used the meeting to propose that all six Western Balkan countries should join the EU simultaneously, rather than through the bloc’s standard merit-based accession process.
EU officials have repeatedly said enlargement remains a country-by-country process, with progress determined by reforms and alignment with EU rules.
Serbia has maintained close political and economic ties with Russia, including reliance on Moscow for gas supplies, and has resisted pressure to impose sanctions on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Serbia’s Minister for European Integration Nemanja Starovic backed Vucic’s decision, accusing the EU of failing to adequately recognise Serbia’s reforms and warning that stalled accession talks risk fuelling anti-EU sentiment at home.
Opposition politicians criticised the move. Aleksandar Radovanovic of the Free Citizens Movement said it reflected frustration over faster progress by Albania and Montenegro, while another opposition lawmaker, Pavle Grbovic, described the decision as an attempt to avoid scrutiny.
An EU official confirmed Serbia had informed Brussels of its absence, adding that the bloc “regrets the decision.”
The EU-Western Balkans summit is expected to focus on enlargement, regional stability and alignment with EU foreign and security policy.