On 10 May 2019 Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic claimed that none of the “beautiful dreams” that the EU holds out to the Western Balkans will come true. He predicted that the EU will not open any new negotiation chapters with Serbia and Montenegro, that the EU would not start negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, that the EU would not grant visa liberalisation to Kosovo and that nothing positive would happen for Bosnia either. He added: “OK, we are stupid, but not that stupid, and everyone knows that I am right and that nothing will happen in June and in July”.
Vucic’s message is that the EU will not fulfil its promises and that instead each nation needs to fend for itself. In November last year Vucic announced that “we will continue to strengthen our military dramatically”.
When we will look back after the upcoming Council and European Council meetings, we might have to conclude that president Vucic was right and that North Macedonia’s prime minister Zoran Zaev, who invested all his political capital in the European future of his country, was wrong to do so. If North Macedonia will be denied the start of accession negotiations, Vucic will look realistic and strong. Zaev will look naïve and weak.
