Vucic compared the process of Ukraine and Serbia joining the European Union

The European Union has never provided Serbia with the kind of support that Ukraine receives from the countries of the bloc; Kyiv received the status of a candidate for accession to the EU in just a few months, stated Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to the Financial Times.

Ukraine applied for EU membership in February 2022 and received candidate status four months later, the FT recalls. Serbia submitted its application in 2009 and only three years later became a candidate for EU membership.

Vučić said in an interview that he “has nothing against Ukrainians,” however, according to him, the level of support for Kiev by European countries and the provision of candidate status within a year from the date of application shows that Serbia “never had such political support.”

The Serbian president believes his country is “in a much better state than Romania and Bulgaria were in 2007 when they joined the EU.” The bloc can no longer accept more members than before, he added.

Ukraine submitted documents to join the EU at the end of February 2022. That same year, in June, Kyiv officially became a candidate for membership in the organization. A year later, according to European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, the Ukrainian authorities fulfilled two of the seven conditions for EU membership – they reformed the High Council of Justice and the High Qualifications Commission of Judges and adopted a law on the media. In addition, the authorities have enshrined the desire for Ukraine to join the union in the country’s Constitution.

Belgrade applied for EU membership in 2009 and, to move closer to this goal, has introduced a series of democratic reforms, advanced dialogue with Kosovo, and taken measures to prosecute war crime suspects. In 2012, Serbia received candidate status for EU membership.