McAllister for N1: Decision not to impose sanctions on Russia has consequences

N1

Chair of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee David McAllister told N1 that the European Union (EU) is still ready for new members, but that it is a long way and hard work to become an EU member. Regarding Serbia, he said there are a number of reasons why the accession negotiations are slow.

“The EU accession negotiations with Serbia are ongoing, they are not moving at a speed which I and many others would have liked to have seen for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that Serbia is not aligned with the foreign and security policy of the European Union and the very major question is the question of sanctions against the Russian Federation. Here the European Union has been very clear that we expect Serbia to align its position on this matter with that of the 27 EU member states. In the moment that is not the case, and of course, this is one of the obstacles why we are not progressing in the ongoing negotiations. The Serbian Government is fully aware of this,” McAllister told N1.

He welcomed the fact that Serbia was very clear in voting in the United Nations, in criticizing and condemning the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

“That has also been a clear positioning of Serbia on this matter, on the other hand, the Serbian Government and (Serbian) President (Aleksandar) Vucic have been very clear that they, at least at the moment, do not want to adopt the sanctions which have been adopted by the European Union and many other European countries that are not in the European Union but also want to become a member of the EU. This is a political decision Serbia has to take. But, the decision which has been taken in Serbia, the position, does have consequences and that’s where we are,” said McAllister.

The European Parliament adopted Wednesday a Resolution asking Serbia to align its foreign policy with the common foreign and security policy of the EU. MEPs asked the EU to suspend progress in negotiations with Serbia until it fulfills several key conditions.