EU admits blackmailing Serbian leader over Moscow visit
The European Commission (EC) has admitted that it threatened to downgrade Serbia's bid to join the EU if President Aleksandar Vucic visits Moscow’s Victory Day celebrations, as planned, on May 9.
Russia plans to host a military parade in the center of the capital to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s 1945 triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II. Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas warned earlier this month that the bloc does not want any member or candidate states attending the event.
EC Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos met with Vucic on Tuesday and warned that his presence in Moscow would be held against Serbia’s EU aspirations, spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said in a press briefing in Brussels on Wednesday.
“The participation of President Vucic at the military parade in Moscow will impact” Belgrade’s EU accession process, the EC spokesperson said.
“She passed on the message that was shared by many other EU member states that the participation in Moscow will have an impact on the EU path,” he said when asked about what the EU response could be, but declined to elaborate further.
Serbia should use the occasion to demonstrate its “strategic direction,” Mercier said.
Earlier this month, Vucic told the press that he had not changed his decision to visit Moscow for the May 9 celebration, where a unit of the Serbian Armed Forces will take part.
Moscow has extended numerous invitations to the May 9 celebration, including to China, India, and Brazil, as well as other international leaders. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will miss the event due to tensions with neighboring Pakistan, but Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to represent New Delhi at the event.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed the courage of European leaders who have chosen to attend and celebrate the memory of the fight against Nazism, despite pressure from Brussels.
