The European Movement in Serbia expresses deep concern over the decision of Serbian authorities not to participate in the European Union-Western Balkans Summit, held on 17 December 2025 in Brussels, dedicated to EU enlargement. Such decision confirms long-standing collapse of the country’s European integration policy, which in practice has been based on simulation of reforms, continuous postponing of key strategic decisions, and systematic undermining of the fundamental values on which the European Union is founded. We therefore consider this decision politically erroneous, harmful, and counterproductive in the long term, as it further weakens Serbia’s credibility in the European integration process, distances the country from the democratic values of an orderly society, and thereby directly harms the interests of the state and the well-being of its citizens.

Today, Serbia is objectively further from EU membership than it was at the moment accession negotiations were opened in 2014, while the accession process has de facto been suspended for four years. The authorities in Serbia are well aware of the fact that the EU membership criteria in the areas of the rule of law, democratic institutions, media freedom, judicial independence, fight against corruption and organized crime have not changed since the beginning of the negotiations. Despite this, the public has for years been misled by claims about “new requirements,” while stagnation and backsliding have been precisely recorded in these areas, as clearly stated by the annual reports of the European Commission and the resolutions of the European Parliament.

Absence of free and fair elections, highest level of corruption in the past 13 years, alarming links between certain public office holders and organized crime, repression and excessive use of force against citizens who peacefully demand institutional accountability and rule of law, as well as systemic pressure on the media, judiciary, universities and education system, and civil society, are incompatible with value-based and legal framework of the European Union. Furthermore, since 2022, alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy has become a central issue of strategic orientation, on which the EU has been insisting for four years, while the authorities in Serbia have continuously avoided it.

Consequences of such policies are already visible: Montenegro and Albania are making progress toward membership, while Serbia remains on the margins of the European process. In this context, decision not to participate in the EU-Western Balkans Summit cannot be interpreted as an expression of principled conduct or of a “genuine commitment to a merit-based European path,” but rather as a signal of political withdrawal and avoidance of responsibility for years of stagnation in the European integration process.

The Brussels Summit was an opportunity for an open dialogue on the state of negotiations, reforms, regional cooperation, and common challenges. By refusing to participate, Serbian authorities deliberately missed the opportunity for key issues (the rule of law, democratic standards, economic competitiveness, and the European perspective of the region) to be discussed at the highest level. Particulalry in light of participation of the state leadership in the Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May and in Beijing on 2 September this year, absence from the EU enlargement summit further reinforces the perception of Serbia’s withdrawal from the process of accession to the European Union.

The European Movement in Serbia believes it is high time to clearly identify political responsibility for the crisis in which the country finds itself and to establish a functional democracy in line with European values, in the interest of the citizens of Serbia and its future in the European Union.