Serbia risks having its European Union accession process halted if President Aleksandar Vučić travels to Moscow next month to attend Russia’s Victory Day parade, British newspaper The Telegraph reported on Tuesday, citing Serbian broadcaster N1.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the EU’s warnings “Euro-Nazism.”
“Eighty years ago, fascists similarly forced those they saw as ‘second-class citizens’ to renounce their homeland, people and religion,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
The EU’s reaction follows reports in Russian state media that Vučić would be among foreign guests at the May 9 parade, and that Serbia might participate with military personnel and equipment. EU officials reportedly warned that such a visit would breach membership criteria and endanger Serbia’s European aspirations.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that the bloc’s foreign ministers had discussed the potential participation of candidate countries in the Moscow ceremony.
“It was made very clear — several member states said any attendance at the May 9 parade or celebrations in Moscow would not be well received in Europe, especially as Russia is waging a full-scale war in Europe,” Kallas told reporters, according to Croatian outlet Index.
Serbia has long attempted to balance its ties with both Brussels and Moscow. It applied for EU membership in 2009 and gained candidate status in 2012. But accession talks have largely stalled, particularly due to Belgrade’s reluctance to distance itself from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Serbia has refused to impose sanctions on Russia — a key demand from most EU member states. Moscow also holds a majority stake in Serbia’s only oil refinery and has declined to sell it, keeping Serbia economically tethered to Russia.
Kallas also urged EU member states not to attend Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade, which this year marks the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II.
Slovakia, which maintains close ties with Moscow, has also been invited. Prime Minister Robert Fico previously announced he would attend and remains one of the few EU leaders to have met with Putin in the last three years.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, often seen as Putin’s closest ally in the EU, is not expected to attend.
“I’ve invited all member states and institutional representatives to visit Kyiv as often as possible to show our solidarity and that we stand with Ukraine,” Kallas added, as quoted by N1.
