Serbia stronger in 2023 but will face challenges - analyst

BELGRADE - Serbia entered 2023 as a stronger country, but it still faces challenges regarding the Kosovo-Metohija issue and, like the majority of European countries, it will also feel the fallout from the Ukraine war, says political analyst Zoran Milivojevic.

"Many things do not depend on us. We have a serious war in Europe that is generating consequences affecting even the most stable countries. A tough year is ahead in which we should hope for the end of the war or at least the start of a resolution. The war has confirmed that the world is divided, multipolar, and this war is definitely an entry into a new world order. We cannot stay unaffected by such global developments," Milivojevic told Tanjug.

In the period to come, there will also be pressure to resolve the Kosovo-Metohija issue, as well as the Bosnia and Herzegovina issue, where Serbia has state and national interests, he added.

He said Serbia had entered 2023 as a stronger country but also with "a greater capacity for risks and dangers."

Speaking about EU integration, Milivojevic said Serbia had made a step forward and that all preconditions were in place to verify that progress.

"The stability of Serbia that has been achieved is important for it to be able to fight for its national and state interests. If it was not for that stability, Serbia would not have done anything so successfully, and we finished last year by strengthening our position," Milivojevic said, adding that 2022 had been a difficult year for Serbia.

"We had the worst year in view of Pristina's policy, which forced us to fight a double fight, against escalations and for peace, as well as a fight against those supporting that policy, to convince them that it is not possible, that they cannot do without Serbia and that everything else leads to chaos and an uncontrolled situation not only in Kosovo-Metohija but in the wider region as well," Milivojevic noted.