Von der Leyen, Costa after meeting with Vucic: We remain committed to seeing a democratic Serbia in EU

Von der Leyen and Costa said in a post on X that they discussed with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic the importance of accelerating reforms, in particular in the areas of rule of law and media freedom.

“We stressed that enlargement is a geostrategic imperative and the need for Serbia to further align with the EU’s foreign and security policy. We also welcomed Serbia’s steps to diversify its energy sources and routes and to reduce dependency on Russia, whose unreliability has been repeatedly demonstrated,” the EU top officials wrote.

Following a working dinner hosted by von der Leyen, the two EU leaders added that it was “good to meet together with Vucic to take stock of Serbia’s progress on its EU path.”

“Europe has consistently shown solidarity with Serbia through major investments in energy infrastructure and support to vulnerable households. As we underlined during our visits earlier this year, we remain fully committed to seeing a democratic Serbia in the EU. You can count on our support,” the EU leaders added.

After the dinner, Vucic told reporters that he was “genuinely satisfied with the course, manner and tone of the talks, especially regarding the energy situation.”

“It was a pleasant conversation, we had a substantive discussion. We have known each other for a long time and understand each other very well, even when we disagree. We talked in great detail about where, how much and in what way we can import oil derivatives, from Bulgaria and Romania, where to build new gas and oil pipelines, we went into the smallest details. I’m not as worried about gas supplies as I am about oil, we looked for solutions, and I believe we will have the EU’s support on these vital issues,” Vucic told Serbian media.

He also said he presented von der Leyen and Costa with his proposal for the entire Western Balkans to join the EU together as a package. He added that they “listened to me like polite people” and “didn’t say anything on that particular issue.”