Vucic: EU enlargement process not quite based on merit

DAVOS - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday the claim the EU enlargement process and the opening of clusters in the accession talks were merit-based was not quite true.

Asked by reporters in Davos to comment on a statement by EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, who said earlier the enlargement process was based on merit rather than on time frames, Vucic said the problem was that the so-called principle of merit-based enlargement was "a partial lie, to say the least."

"In December, we were the best performer in delivering the results requested from us by the EU and (Gert Jan) Koopman on the reform agenda and the growth agenda. They (the EU) promised to open Cluster 3, and have they opened it? They opened it for those who they themselves said were inferior when it comes to meeting those conditions. That would mean it is not quite based on merit, but on who they like and do not like," Vucic said.

Vucic added that he had no problem with Kos, and noted that he expected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to be on Serbia's side, unlike Croatia and some Scandinavian countries.