Picula: Future EU approach to Serbia depends on elections

"The preparation of those elections, their conduct, and the post-election period will be the key event in the future dynamics of relations between the EU and Serbia," Picula told N1, adding that the elections will be the single most important event for future EU-Serbia relations.

Picula said Serbia's absence from this week's EU enlargement-related meetings underscored the lack of progress in the accession process over the past five years and made it unlikely that the country would open Cluster 3. He said the European Parliament had for years maintained a consistent assessment of developments in Serbia, while the European Commission had been less consistent. "The Commission's recommendation to open Cluster 3 differs significantly from the assessment contained in its report on Serbia published at the end of last year," he said.

Picula said it remained to be seen whether the Commission would maintain a critical stance toward Serbia or whether other interests, which he said were primarily driven by some influential member states, would prevail.

He said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's proposal to bring all Western Balkan countries into the EU together was an attempt "to mask his own weaknesses". "I do not think that can happen, especially when it comes to the six Western Balkan candidates. Serbia's lack of sufficient results to move forward is not only the European Parliament's assessment but also the view of a significant number of member states," he added.