About: Serbia Archives

Serbia's ruling conservative party led by President Aleksandar Vučić is set for a landslide win in parliamentary elections held on Sunday (21 June), according to results projected by Ipsos and CeSID pollsters.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday (18 June) he would reject European Union membership if Belgrade does not receive concessions in return for recognising Kosovo and dropping attempts to stop it joining the United Nations.

Serbia will hold parliamentary, provincial and local elections on Sunday (June 21), which the ruling Serbian Progressive Party is expected to win hands down, while the biggest opposition bloc plans to boycott the vote, saying it will not be fair and legitimate.

European People's Party President Donald Tusk has publicly supported Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić ahead of the country's parliamentary election on Sunday (21 June), which the opposition is going to boycott. In response, Serbian opposition leader Dragan Djilas sent an open letter to Tusk. EURACTIV is publishing its shortened version.

An excuse to dominate the airwaves, sideline the opposition and cast himself as a saviour: President Aleksandar Vučić has emerged from the coronavirus crisis stronger than ever as he looks to extend his vice-like grip on Serbia's troubled democracy.

Kosovo's newly elected government has removed all trade barriers for goods produced in Serbia, paving the way for a resumption of talks with Belgrade on an agreement that could enable the tiny Balkan country to get United Nations membership.

Hungary will triple the capacity of a natural gas pipeline border interconnector towards Slovakia by 2024, enabling the pipeline to carry more than 5 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year, the foreign minister said on Tuesday (2 June).

EU leaders confirmed their "unequivocal support for the European perspective" to their Western Balkans counterparts during a video-summit on Wednesday (6 May). However, the final declaration doesn't make reference to a tangible time frame for the region's accession to the bloc.

Although EU membership is Serbia’s official foreign policy goal, Russia and China – and perhaps the USA in the future – are providing something that is much more valuable for the Serbian leaders: a hope that the drawing of the national borders will be possible again, writes Filip Milacic

Last month, six Chinese medical professionals stepped off an Air Serbia jet in Belgrade to a red-carpet welcome from President Aleksandar Vučić and an array of cabinet ministers. After elbow-bump greetings, Vučić kissed Serbia’s flag, then China’s.

Serbia will bring in Russian doctors and experts to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak and undertake a major disinfection effort, President Aleksandar Vučić said on Thursday (2 April).

A Serbian journalist was detained by police on Wednesday (1 April) on charges of causing public unrest and damaging a hospital's reputation after she reported about a shortage of protective medical equipment available for staff at a medical centre in the northern Vojvodina province.

When six Chinese doctors landed in Belgrade two weeks ago, Serbia's president greeted them with elbow-bumps before laying a kiss on their country's flag, a gesture of gratitude that sent Chinese social media aflutter.

The ongoing coronavirus crisis is feeding into the narrative that the EU is “turning its back” on the Western Balkans, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said in an updated report on ongoing disinformation campaigns surrounding the pandemic, published on Wednesday (1 April).

The EU on Monday (30 March) announced nearly €40 million to help Western Balkan countries deal with the coronavirus, after Brussels came under fire for not doing enough for its neighbours.

Kosovo's government was toppled by a no-confidence vote Wednesday (25 March) less than two months after coming to power, plunging the unstable democracy into political uncertainty as it tries to halt the spread of coronavirus.

Chinese Ambassador to Serbia, Chen Bo, informed Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on Tuesday (17 March) that Beijing had approved a donation and decided to send experts to help Serbia fight the coronavirus pandemic. EURACTIV Serbia reports.

Serbia declared a state of emergency Sunday (15 March) to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, shutting down many public spaces, deploying soldiers to guard hospitals and closing the borders to foreigners.

A recent op-ed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is rich with unbelievable false statements, according to Dragan Djilas. As the deception of EU officials has become Vučić's common practice, the former Belgrade mayor sets out to refute almost everything Vučić wrote.

A few years ago, the newly elected Kosovo prime minister overturned Serbian trucks. But Albin Kurti now says he is ready to revoke tariffs introduced by his predecessor on Serbian goods.

An anti-immigration campaign launched by a Serbian rightwing nationalist party has sparked unease within the disparate opposition coalition to which it belongs.

European Council president Charles Michel on Sunday (16 February) met with leaders of the six Western Balkan nations seeking to join the EU, for 'frank' talks ahead of a key summit in Zagreb in May.

Montenegro needs its own Orthodox church to ward off meddling from Serbia and cement its identity, President Milo Đukanović told AFP, as tensions seethe over who controls a faith shared by both countries.

The EU's new enlargement methodology aims to strengthen ties with countries from the Western Balkans, especially with those that have already started EU membership negotiations  European Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi said in Belgrade on Thursday (6 February). EURACTIV Serbia reports.