Vucic: I am certain Serbia will not join EU soon

DAVOS - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday in Davos he was certain Serbia would not join the EU soon and noted that he was slightly pessimistic about EU accession and that the EU's popularity had declined in the region.

I am slightly pessimistic about the possibility of Serbia and everyone else in the region joining the EU in the relatively near future, he told a World Economic Forum panel titled Widening Europe's Horizons.

We are in talks, but we will see - we have views that differ from those of the EU, he added.

He said Serbia had been one of the four fastest-growing economies in the past three years.

The question is how to continue with similar or higher growth and do other things, Vucic noted.

There are no big dreams when it comes to EU accession, he said.

We are not as enthusiastic as we used to be and, in a way, the EU is not enthusiastic either as far as we are concerned, he said.

The EU's popularity in the region - in North Macedonia and Serbia in particular - is on a decline, and even in Montenegro as well, Vucic noted.

He said this was expected due to political pressure on Serbia and North Macedonia regarding Kosovo-Metohija and the national identity issue, respectively.

When asked if Serbia would ever join the EU given its failure to align with the bloc's position on Russia and the Ukraine war, Vucic responded:

"We respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but we also respect our territorial integrity."

The Crimea and the Donbass are parts of Ukraine and we will not change our position, he said.

Serbia respects all UN resolutions and the UN Charter, but some big powers respect neither the Charter nor UN SC Resolution 1244 when it comes to Serbia's territorial integrity, Vucic noted, adding that he believed sanctions led to no solutions as Serbia had been under sanctions for a decade.