Speaking at an event in Brussels, Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić expressed full support for President Aleksandar Vučić's proposal to include non-EU Western Balkan countries in the Schengen Agreement. Đurić stated that this step would contribute €50 billion annually to the region's economy and permanently stabilise ethnic relations.
Addressing the "Serbia's Reform Momentum: From Commitment to Implementation" gathering in Brussels on Friday, Đurić was joined by European Integration Minister Nemanja Starović, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Siniša Mali, and Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić, who all outlined Belgrade's progress on European reforms.
Đurić said, "President Vučić's initiative to include the region in Schengen and the free open market paves the way for an additional €50 billion annually and permanently stabilizes ethnic relations in our region. This could truly change the paradigm of relations in the Western Balkans, and I back this up with statistics."
On June 30, following a meeting with ambassadors of EU member states, Vučić had stated that Serbia continues to advance on the path to EU membership and to pursue reforms.
Belgrade had previously indicated that it hoped Brussels would open Cluster 3 in Serbia's EU accession negotiations in 2025, which includes the chapters on media, tax policy, social policy, entrepreneurship, education and culture, but this has not yet materialized.
Candidate status for the EU is only the start of the accession process. Turkey has been a candidate since 1999, North Macedonia since 2005, Montenegro since 2010, and Serbia since 2012. Croatia was the last to join the Union in 2013, a process that took 10 years.
