Starovic: Nothing from the Dialogue implemented in practice due to Pristina's unilateral measures

Serbia’s Minister for European Integration, Nemanja Starovic, stated that although some progress has been made over the past three years, none of the outcomes from the dialogue have been implemented in practice due to Pristina’s unilateral measures.

In an interview with the Austrian news agency APA, Starovic said that everyone is aware of the need to normalize relations with Kosovo.

“We are determined to achieve that, not only because it is a prerequisite for accession, but because it is important for us in Serbia to have a stable and predictable political environment,” the minister said.

He expressed hope that the new EU Special Representative for the Belgrade–Pristina dialogue, Peter Sørensen, will restore greater significance to the dialogue.

“Although some progress has been made in the past three years, nothing that happened in the dialogue has been reflected in practice, due to Pristina’s unilateral measures, which the EU has only verbally condemned,” Starovic noted.

He also said he expects Serbia to join the Schengen area soon.

“We are the only part of Europe where migrants and refugees come from the Schengen area, for example from Greece and Bulgaria, and then return to the Schengen area, to Hungary, Austria, and so on,” Starovic stated, adding that Serbia’s integration into Schengen would be very beneficial for European security.

He pointed out that Serbia’s preparations for EU accession and integration into Schengen should proceed simultaneously.

“We believe that these processes should run in parallel, as they are not formally linked—there are European countries that are not part of the EU but are part of the Schengen area,” Starovic reminded.

When asked about Austria’s concept of “gradual integration,” Starovic said it can be discussed as long as it is not viewed or applied as a substitute for full membership but rather as something that brings tangible benefits to Serbia’s economy.

He described the European Commission’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans as “a very good step forward.”

He reaffirmed that the Serbian Government is “firmly committed to joining the EU.”

“That is one of our, if not the most important, foreign policy priorities, because we are deeply convinced that it is in Serbia’s best national interest,” emphasized Starovic.

When asked about the close relations between Serbia and Russia and President Aleksandar Vucic’s recent visit to Moscow for the Victory Day parade on May 9, the minister said that for Serbia, it is above all an expression of a culture of remembrance.

“Whenever there is a tendency to interpret it from a political perspective, we must emphasize that our stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been very firm and very clear from day one. We have used every opportunity to condemn the Russian invasion. With around four million euros, Serbia has also provided more aid to Ukraine than all other Western Balkan countries combined,” said Starovic.

Starovic declined to speculate on a date for EU accession, instead stating that Serbia aims to complete all necessary reforms to fully adopt the EU acquis by the end of 2026.

“We cannot say whether that automatically means we’ll be ready to become an EU member state by 2028 or 2030, because that is not in our hands. We are aware that we still have to wait for certain decisions, and even some reforms, within the EU itself. But we want to be ready whenever the door to enlargement opens,” he said.

He added that Serbia intends to open Cluster 3 in its EU accession negotiations by the end of July—something the country has been waiting three and a half years to do since the European Commission’s recommendation.

Asked about the recent critical report from the European Parliament confirming that Serbia still faces issues in the areas of rule of law, media freedom, and electoral reform, Starovic said that three media laws and the law on the voter registry will be adopted in June, and that work is ongoing to appoint new members to the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM), because Serbia wants its reforms to be acknowledged.

“There is momentum suggesting that even Ukraine might be able to open all negotiating clusters by the end of this year. That is why we hope we won’t be sidelined in this enlargement process, and that we will be treated equally,” Starovic said.

Regarding the months-long anti-government student protests following the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad that killed 16 people, Starovic said the government fulfilled the protesters’ demands and that Serbia fully respects the right to political assembly.