European Council president says Serbia's leader has vowed to stay on the EU path despite Russia trip

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — European Council President António Costa on Tuesday criticized Serbia populist president's trip to Russia's Victory Day ceremonies last week, but said that he received assurances that the troubled Balkan nation nonetheless will remain on the path toward European Union accession.

Costa said in Belgrade — at the start of his tour of six Western Balkan membership hopefuls — that “a lot of people asked me not to come” to Serbia. But he said that he decided to come, and that he wanted to “clarify” President Aleksandar Vucic's visit to Moscow last week.

Vucic, Costa said, “explained to me it was a moment to celebrate an event from the past."

“We cannot rewrite the history, and (we) fully understand that Serbia celebrates (its) liberation” by Soviet troops, Costa said, before referring to the Russia-Ukraine war. “But we cannot celebrate the liberation 80 years ago and don’t condemn an invasion of another country today.”

Now, Costa said, “we can reaffirm, and it’s important to hear from him (Vucic) to publicly reaffirm, that he is fully committed with the European Union and with the accession path.”

Vucic, a former extreme nationalist criticized at home and abroad over alleged increasingly authoritarian ways, has maintained close relations with both Russia and China while formally saying that he wants Serbia to join the EU.

Vucic has said his decision to attend Russian President Vladimir Putin's military parade marking the World War II victory over Nazi Germany, was part of efforts to maintain “traditional friendships” — Russia is a fellow Slavic and Orthodox Christian nation —while seeking EU entry.

Serbia, which relies almost fully on Russia for energy, has refused to join Western sanctions on Russia over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and hasn't supported most EU statements condemning the aggression. Belgrade instead has backed a U.N. resolution criticizing Russia's attack.

Costa warned that “a clear condemnation of the Russian brutal invasion of Ukraine” is a key element of EU's security and foreign policy, and that Serbia must fully align in order to join the bloc.

Vucic said that he expected “reaction and attacks” over the Moscow trip at an upcoming European Political Community summit in Albania. He pledged that Serbia will soon pass media and anti-corruption laws needed to move forward in the accession process.

Serbia, he said, “sees itself now and in the future as on the EU path and as a member of the European Union.”

Vucic also has been under pressure at home following six months of major anti-corruption protests that erupted after a train station tragedy in Serbia's north that killed 16 people and which many in the country blamed on graft in infrastructure construction.

A group of Serbian university students — who have been a key force behind the protests — were in Brussels this week after running a relay-style marathon there to draw EU attention to their struggle for justice and the rule of law that they say has been dismantled under Vucic's tight rule in the country.

Costa later also met with Serbia's opposition politicians, who said that they informed him about government repression and demanded the EU's clear support for protesting citizens. Politician Marinika Tepic said that Costa's meeting with Vucic could be viewed as EU support for him.

From Belgrade, Costa will travel later on Tuesday to Bosnia-Herzegovina where separatist policies of a Serb-run entity's president have revived ethnic tensions long after a 1992-95 war, and stalled pro-EU reforms.

Montenegro and Albania have been at the forefront of the membership path while Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo and North Macedonia are lagging behind. The EU's willingness to accept new members has grown since the all-out war in Ukraine started on Feb. 24, 2022, fearing the conflict could fuel instability in the volatile Balkans.