Photo: Official Facebook profile of Aleksandar Vučić
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Vučić under heavy pressure: Shocking information revealed live on air – Brussels will not forgive this
https://informer.rs/politika/vesti/1075221/aleksandar-vucic-brisel-samit-pretnje
President Aleksandar Vučić announced that Serbia would not take part in the European Union–Western Balkans Summit, without providing additional explanation for such a decision. The European Union stated that it regretted Serbia’s absence from the meeting. The President personally conveyed the news during the prime-time RTS News, emphasizing that, for the first time in 13 years, Serbia would not have a representative at the summit.
The decision was explained primarily by pro-government media, first and foremost by the editor-in-chief of Informer, Dragan J. Vučićević, who stated: “No one—not in Serbia, not in Europe, not anywhere in the world—could withstand such pressure. There were even threats made against Vučić to change the decision. Serbia is an independent state that does not give in. We are taking nothing from anyone, depriving no one of anything; all European principles are respected in this country, and that is precisely why the President of Serbia is not there today. And he should not be there.”
The statement was made by the editor of a pro-regime outlet widely recognized as a tabloid prone to publishing disinformation and false news while consistently promoting government positions. Several criminal complaints have been filed against Vučićević, and in the past he was convicted for verbal abuse against a fellow journalist. Although his statements are generally not taken seriously by the public, the fact that his outlet operates under strong government influence grants it broad visibility. As a result, a large number of citizens follow Informer and are directly exposed to disinformation-driven propaganda.
It is important to note that Serbia’s declared strategic commitment is EU membership, and it is therefore understood that Serbia has representatives at the EU–Western Balkans Summit every year. Absence from such a gathering sends a clear signal that the authorities in Serbia do not wish to move along the path toward the European Union. European principles have long not been respected in the Republic of Serbia, as clearly reflected in rising levels of corruption, organized crime, and the absence of political accountability. In this context, the statement by the Informer editor is redundant.
The Minister for European Integration, Nemanja Starović, also commented on the matter, stressing that he fully supports the President’s position. “This decision represents an expression of genuine commitment to our path toward membership in the European Union, which can only be realistic and sustainable if it is merit-based,” Starović said. He added that Serbia had implemented reforms which the EU acknowledged with only one symbolic procedural step in the accession negotiations, and that a very negative message had been sent to Serbian citizens—one that only fuels anti-European narratives.
This statement is problematic given that Serbia has in recent years been facing serious internal challenges and pronounced social polarization. At the same time, stagnation—and even regression—has been recorded in negotiations with the European Union, particularly in the areas of the judiciary and the rule of law, as well as in Chapter 10, which concerns the information society and media. As a result, Cluster 3 cannot currently be opened, nor can further concessions from the EU be expected until fundamental societal problems are addressed.
Analysts criticized the President’s move, arguing that it sends a message that Serbia is not clearly committed to the European path. In their assessment, all other Western Balkan countries currently demonstrate greater political will for EU membership than Serbia. This is particularly evident in Chapter 31, where Serbia has for years recorded the lowest level of alignment with the EU’s foreign policy measures compared to other candidates in the region. “For four years nothing has been opened; our negotiations are completely frozen. This is an attempt to conceal collapse and a major embarrassment,” Vladimir Međak concluded for the Nova S portal. The question remains how much this decision will cost Serbia’s citizens and whether this marks the beginning of the end of Serbia’s European path.
Author: Nataša Stanojević
