Enthusiasm on Western Balkans regarding accession to EU is decreasing — Vucic

World January 20, 2023, 0:42

He noted that the yearly economic growth in the Euro zone and the EU will stand at about 0.5%-0.7% in the next few years

DAVOS, January 20. /TASS/. The enthusiasm of Western Balkan states regarding their potential accession to the European Union is decreasing amid the incoming political demands, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in his commentary for RTS on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"Of course, representatives of all [regional] countries spoke [at the forum] plus a representative of Pristina, and it was clear that there is a decrease of enthusiasm regarding the accession to the EU among the regional states, especially in North Macedonia and Serbia. Primarily, due to incoming political demands involving either national identity or territorial issues," Vucic said.

He noted that the yearly economic growth in the Euro zone and the EU will stand at about 0.5%-0.7% in the next few years, unless the conflict in Ukraine is stopped soon, which means that Serbia is unlikely to receive a massive influx of investments, like it did in the previous years, so the republic will "rely on its own capabilities."

Previously, Vucic said that over three quarters of Serbian people do not support the imposition of sanctions against Russia, while Brussels’ pressure on this issue lowers the EU’s popularity among the Serbians.

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