Is Serbia At A Crossroads? South Stream or EU?
Serbia is determined to increase ties with Russia, raising doubts about possible consequences on its access to the European Union.
Belgrade did indeed clarify it is in favour of the South Stream project, despite recent declarations from European authorities suggesting that the current relations between Moscow and Brussels don’t represent the right political conditions for the pipeline.
Two meetings between Serbia and Russia gave the full picture on Tuesday: national authorities seek an intensification of business ties, while companies are studying how to advance the pipeline. A few hours later, on Wednesday, the European Commission asked Belgrade to follow Brussels' decisions in the energy sector and in foreign policies.
GOVERNMENTS: NOVAK - DACIC
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic met with Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak in Moscow, laying the ground for the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Belgrade on October 16.
‘He pointed out that Serbia wants to strengthen cooperation with Russia in the energy sector, as well as to address the issue of privatisation of some enterprises in our country and put them into operation,’ reads a note released by the Serbian government on Tuesday, referring to Dacic’s statement.
The delegations spoke about NIS and Petrohemija, with Serbs asking Russians to invest in their companies and to lower gas prices for some industrial facilities.
According to the Serbian part, the delegations did not touch upon the South Stream, but Belgrade made it clear that it has ‘no problem regarding the South Stream because our country wants its construction, while all other problems need to be solved by Russia and the EU.’
COMPANIES: GAZPROM - SRBIJAGAS
A few hours later, Gazprom’s Alexey Miller met with Srbijagas’ Dusan Bajatovic in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, clearly referring to the project.
The parts discussed the South Stream project, speaking about the permitting process for its Serbian section.
Miller and Bajatovic also referred to other aspects of cooperation between the two countries.
‘The parties addressed the bilateral cooperation in the gas sector, placing an emphasis on Russian gas supplies to Serbia as well as the use of Serbian underground reservoirs to store natural gas in the country,’ Gazprom said in a separate statement.
SERBIAN ACCESSION TO THE EU
Serbia started the accession negotiations in January 2014, with the government elected in March confirming its intention to promote EU accession.
The European Commission released on Wednesday a memo with the key findings of the Progress Report on six countries willing to be part of the European Union, one being Serbia.
Brussels outlined the strengths and the weakness of the country, suggesting that Belgrade has to implement comprehensive political and economic reforms. It also added that Serbia has to promote a higher degree of alignment in the energy sector. In its memo, the European Commission also referred to the South Stream project.
‘Serbia needs to step up its efforts towards alignment with the EU acquis in particular in the fields of energy – including on the South Stream gas pipeline, environment, climate change, state aid, health and social protection system and asylum policies,’ reads the memo published on Wednesday.
In this sense, Brussels is kindly putting conditions on Serbian accession. Belgrade’s decision to accomodate Gazprom’s plans could indeed slow down the accession process, creating further doubts on the compatibility of Serbian and European plans. Ironically enough, the European Union does not have a single line on foreign policies, but it asks Belgrade to follow suit.
‘In the foreign and security policy area, Serbia also needs to progressively align its policies and positions with the EU ones, in the period up to accession,’ concludes the note.
On Monday, the EU’s next foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that South Stream project, which was previously defined an important project for Europe, requires a different political climate.
“Political conditions are not right,” she said referring to the pipeline connecting Russia and Europe during her three-hour confirmation hearing at the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
Sergio Matalucci