European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia Tonino Picula said on Friday that President Aleksandar Vučić was not genuinely interested in joining the European Union or embracing its values, accusing Belgrade of responding with hostility to EU scrutiny over democracy and media freedom.
Picula’s comments followed a recent visit by a European Parliament delegation to Serbia that was met with sharp criticism from pro-government officials and media. Instead of addressing concerns over the rule of law, democratic standards and press freedom, Serbian authorities resorted to conspiracy theories and personal attacks, he said.
“Vučić is not concerned with the European Union and its values at all. What matters to him is unrestrained power in Serbia,” Picula told Croatia’s Večernji List in an interview.
Picula, a Croatian MEP appointed as the European Parliament’s permanent rapporteur for Serbia, said members of the delegation were subjected to insults and a hostile atmosphere, adding that some Serbian officials and media outlets went as far as labelling him a war criminal.
He said the reaction underscored what he described as the increasingly authoritarian nature of Vučić’s rule and its low tolerance for international oversight.
During the visit, Serbian authorities avoided meetings with EU lawmakers, while the parliament organised an exhibition on the World War Two-era Jasenovac concentration camp, a move Picula said was intended to provoke and humiliate Croatian members of the delegation.
The Serbian government did not immediately respond to Picula’s comments.
Serbia is formally a candidate for EU membership, but accession talks have stalled amid concerns in Brussels over democratic backsliding, pressure on independent media and Belgrade’s foreign policy balancing between the EU, Russia and China.
Picula said the episode raised questions about how much longer the EU should tolerate what he described as confrontational behaviour from Serbia’s leadership, warning that patience in Brussels was wearing thin.