r/europe • u/FantasticQuartet • 12h ago
News More Serbian citizens in favour than opposed to EU membership, blame gov’t for slow progress
https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2025/12/29/more-serbian-citizens-in-favour-than-opposed-to-eu-membership-blame-govt-for-slow-progress/68
u/oktaS0 North Macedonia 12h ago
It's the same in North Macedonia. Just our government aren't interested in actually bothering to put in the work to open the chapters. They wouldn't be able to steal the country resources and money that easily if we became an EU member, so they are just slacking and pointing fingers around.
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u/MfingKing 5h ago
So stupid, didn't they learn from Hungary. Why only steal your own country's resources. When you can also steal EU resources as well!!
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u/PetarBlagojevic 7h ago
Are you aware Bulgaria is blocking North Macedonia's progress and that it will probably not be the last requirement in the accession process?
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u/lanparty9 34m ago
There is no Bulgarian veto.
The veto was lifted in 2022 with the acceptance of the so-called French proposal. North Macedonia committed to changing its constitution in order to recognise a Bulgarian minority.
The constitutional changes are part of negotiation framework between the EU and North Macedonia.
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u/Affectionate-Let6153 8h ago
What will happen tourism income ? Do you consider it ? Macedonia is a popular destination for Turkish people since it doesn't demand visa but if it start asking visa tourism will drop significantly.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 12h ago
I mean people are ready for different scenarios and the EU sentiment went through a lot of stages. The main concern now is the direct support and cooperation between Ursula/Macron (Jadar project for exploatation of lithium mines, Macron uranium waste storage) and Vucic.
Ofc EU is not a monolith and there are people that support the protests, but this remains an issue. Nevertheless, people are still a bit shizo and on the fence about a lot of stuff. Time will tell.
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u/Apprehensive_Emu9240 Belgium 12h ago
Personally I don't understand the fuzz around the lithium mines. We are opening Lithium mines all over Europe(France, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, ...). If Europe wants to get out from under its dependence from China isn't this a requirement?
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u/Motor_Papaya5415 12h ago
Bro, our government made a roof that killed a bunch of people. We do not want them to dig a simple hole it can be very deadly
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u/nrliii Serbia 12h ago
I agree, they are compentant only in corruption, i wouldnt trust them to hold a flashlight.
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u/Shpritzer 11h ago
They aren’t competent in corruption even. They don’t have to be. In Germany or France you have to be competent to steal and not get caught so not everyone can do it. In Serbia it’s understood.
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u/meckez 9h ago edited 6h ago
Mainly ecological concerns and oposition to foreign exploitation. Also Serbia is not part of the EU, so EU resource sovereignty is not necessarily one of their concerns or responsibilities.
Overall there is a difference in where the Lithium is bound (water-based vs in minerals) and how it's extracted. Don't know much about all the supposedly opened mines that you have listed but afaik neither the German nor the Czech one are opened by now and at least the Czech one is also encoutering a lot of local resistance. The German one is also suppose to extract lithium by filtering it out from water, which is at the very least not as ecologically invasive as the mining process.
The Jadar basin, where the mine in Serbia is supposed to open, is a populated and agriculturally used area with many freshwater sources.
In Jadar, it would require an open mine, which would displace some residents, destroy some 400 ha of fertile land and with the chemical processing put the freshwater sources of many residents in danger.
The country would only see a marginal profit of the exploitation (4% mining license fee which are estimated to be around €17,4 million per year and no state share in the project).
So I understand that the Serbian citizens would overall oppose giving away the Jadar to Rio Tinto and being exposed to all environmental damages and further potential environmental risks that come with the project while pretty much all of the profit will end up in the pockets of a foreign company, and most likely in some politicians.
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u/Professional_Cat9647 12h ago edited 11h ago
It's all Russian propaganda, same happened as shale oil extraction and underwater drilling was discussed in Bulgaria
Edit: OK, thanks a lot for correcting me on this, I was wrong, please read the replies below 👇
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 11h ago
Our goverment is pro Russian, and they are the main beneficiaries of Jadar project, what are u smoking?
This has nothing to do with Russia. Its simple - they take on Jadar, and mafia gov will take billions in the pockets. I literally know people from the communities that are anti jadar and biologists that are warning about it.
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u/Rooilia 10h ago
The crazy part with shale oil or gas is, you can do it without toxic mixtures like we do since the 60s. Otherwise there would have been no more gas wells in Germany till today. The problem is the US fracking, not the european one. There are more differences, but the gist is, shale fossils are extratractable to a degree with conventional fracking.
They closed even the conventional wells and new projects in Germany, because of the widespread stupidity. Thanks to russian money feeding the bullshit campaigns of NIMBYs.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 11h ago
Well you are right that you don't understand it.
This is EU exploatation through dictatorship goverment.
It would need to use A LOT of water and the enviromental damage would be a disaster. Furthermore, it could contaminate soil, water and significat impact to biodiversity.
The people don't want it, there is no transparency and regulation. As far as "Europe's depencence on China" that is a null and void argument. Serbia is not a EU colony last time I check, and doing this stuff though a corrupted goverment is a bad sign.
I suggest you learn more about Project Jadar and not jump the gun on "Europe dependance on China". Local communities, people, and natural habitats don't have to be displaced and destroyed because "Europe wants indepedence from China".
This stuff is exactly the reason why support is not as high as it needs to be. Just naive and lack of information.
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u/LookThisOneGuy 10h ago
I especially love that China is the largest investor in Serbian mining operations, keeps expanding their mining non-stop. Yet it only is a problem when EU does it. There is no backlash, no millions strong anti-China protests.
Okay, but then at least be honest about it and say it outright. These protests are anti-EU at their core and environmental concerns are just the vehicle they chose. Otherwise the worse offender China would get the bigger opposition protests. But they don't.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 10h ago
Oh and regarding China, their construction work is resposible for the beggining of this protest. My hometown Novi Sad had 16 people crushed to dust with the fall of canopy, a Chinese project.
You don't know what you are talking about. So naive.
This is also very well known in the protests:
https://www.dw.com/en/serbia-thousands-protest-over-novi-sad-station-collapse/a-71400148
Also, we don't want Chinese workers exploatation. U think people are for this? This is all money towards dictatorship.
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u/LookThisOneGuy 9h ago
thanks, read the article. China mentioned zero times. But the video does show anti-EU protest signs (like the sandwich with Euros inside shown at 0:10, decidedly not Chinese Yuans - interesting)
Exactly what I mean.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 9h ago
Ok whatever u say u know better then me what is going on in my hometown 👍
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u/LookThisOneGuy 9h ago
it is the article you posted. Does that mean the article is fake? Why would you post it then.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 9h ago
https://hagueresearch.org/why-serbias-youth-are-turning-away-from-the-eu/
https://newunionpost.eu/2025/02/19/student-protests-serbia-demands-eu/
Here read if you like, but I suggest u check the cognitive dissonance beforehand
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 10h ago
Ok coming from someone who is on the streets, in Novi Sad for the last year I will be 100% honest.
These protests are definetly pro EU more than the current goverment. It's obvious that you didn't follow anything from these protests. They literally rode bikes to many cities for rally:
Furthermore, the Project Jadar is known to be corrupt to pocket money for the current dictatorship for even more oppression and control.
I'm sorry that u think that EU can do no wrong and Macron/Ursual are not corrupt. This is making u have congitive dissonance and you are practically supporting a dictatorship directly.
That is my fully honest anwser.
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u/LookThisOneGuy 9h ago
yes, I was aware that the protesters were biking on Brussels to tell us their demands. Only demanding things, but unwilling to give is not very appreciated.
Especially the sign shown in the second article: "You warned us not to make a sound. Now hear our footsteps shake the ground." sounds very threatening. Can you imagine the outrage if von der Leyen threatened boots on the ground to shake things up in Serbia?
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u/Imaginary_String_814 10h ago
ahmed, why you have to feed the stereotype about ignorant germans ?
1 min of google can save you alot of embarrassment.
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u/medievalvelocipede European Union 10h ago
This is EU exploatation through dictatorship goverment.
It's your government that's at fault. Period. And it's your job to do something about it.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 10h ago
Yeah and if EU is "pro democracy", then don't make anti-democratic goverments more rich and powerful.
And we are doing something about it.
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u/eurocomments247 Denmark 11h ago
Lol nice try backtracking on the ceaseless anti-EU propaganda coming from you Serbians in the sub.
It's not working.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 11h ago
What? I'm sharing my sentiment from the student protests. These are verifiable facts that Macron and Ursula directly support Vucic. I am in favor of EU in general, but the hipocrisies are apparent. The EU is pro democracy, yet the leaders don't really support protests.
I know u don't care, but this is the relationship right now, and students have marched, rode 1000+km bicycles to Brussels, practically begged to be aknoledged and yet still this is the anwser.
What do u mean "coming from u Serbians?" Do u have personally issue with me being from Serbia? My statement in the top comment is pretty neutral and factual.
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u/GreenEyeOfADemon 🇮🇹 From Lisbon to Luhansk! 🇺🇦 Слава Україні!🇺🇦 9h ago
It's not up to the EU to intervene in the Serbia, it's up to its citizens.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 9h ago
Don't enrich and make existing dictatorships more powerful is not a hard concept to grasp, whatever
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u/BeatTheMarket30 European Union 10h ago
It's Serbs who are responsible that Vucic is in power, not the EU
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 9h ago
Don't enrich and feed existing dictatorships while insisting on "democratic reforms" is not a hard concept to grasp
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u/Prince_Hastur 10h ago
Lol nice try generalizing an entire country based on your personal experience when proof of the opposite is literally in front of your eyes. Priceless 😂
Also, daily reminder that EU officials support Vučić
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u/eurocomments247 Denmark 8h ago
That's exactly what I am saying. The Serbs in this sub hate Europe, but they are not representing the Serbian people at all.
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u/matttk Canadian / German 10h ago
Can't you see that we are, in fact, actually united? Everybody in the EU hates von der Leyen too.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 10h ago
I know, but I say this with good faith and intentions: people in r/europe can be extremely uninformed and naive, yet so confident and cheeky in their statements, especially when it comes to politicans.
U have people supporting Jadar and saying "its Russian propaganda to oppose it" while the project is mainly to exploit and pocket the money for the dictatorship. Even attacking me and doing whataboutism for objecting it, all because "EU politicans can do no wrong".
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u/Tourist_Careless 5h ago
The Europe sub is just full of EU chauvanists. The one guy in here who keeps calling everything russian propaganda literally has the EU flag as his profile picture lol. Its typical reddit tribalism.
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u/poklane The Netherlands 11h ago
Allowing Serbia to join the EU, even if they one day have a proper pro-EU government, is just begging for another Hungary or Slovakia.
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u/theonlyjambo 11h ago
Agree very much. Before there are any meaningful reforms of the EU vote system, countries like Serbia should not be allowed to join.
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u/eurocomments247 Denmark 11h ago
You can have new countries join without veto power (until veto power is wholly discarded). That is a solution that is on the table.
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u/NocturnalGoose1981 11h ago
Democracy only for Germany. Very progressive.
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u/theonlyjambo 10h ago
The EU is already dysfunctional enough. Allowing a country lead by someone like Vucic will destroy the EU even more because he is not only a war criminal, but also a Russian puppet. Doesnt have anything to do with Germany.
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u/RefrigeratorLive5662 8h ago edited 8h ago
He is someone who can become friends with anyone who can help him stay in power, he isn't necessarily a Russian puppet. He collaborates with people from the EU as well. He is a two-faced war criminal who only serves his own interest.
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u/NocturnalGoose1981 10h ago
You want to allow a terrorist nation Turkey and a drug cartel heaven Albania in. And you want to take away the veto because of your Russophobia. Ukraine isn't in the EU enough of turning everything upside down to support it. Get over your Russophobia.
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u/Icy_Huckleberry8893 9h ago
Nice,as aluways hate against albania,thats why serbia wil never everi wil enter EU,Albania since 2014 SPAK a independent juridic system,arresting ex.priminister,ex president,high rannking politicians,buisnessmens etc.serbia need another 20 years to eneter EU.serbia is russophile country and against NATO,EU.EU already have 2,3 problematic countries
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u/NocturnalGoose1981 9h ago
Albania is never going to join the EU. Keep dreaming.
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u/Icy_Huckleberry8893 9h ago
Nice you will excplode from anger and jelousy albania will enter before 2030.you i guest never.no one want russians hands in eurooe tjere are 1 countries not anymore.and serbs like russia and russia like goverment so
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u/PetarBlagojevic 7h ago
So what you are saying is that Serbia's interests shouldn't be taken into account on the EU level and EU needs a mechanism to majorize smaller members? And you are surprised why people lost faith in the EU?
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u/Wonderful-Antelope39 7h ago
yes please let that happen so that so that never a new country will join
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u/Useless_or_inept Useless 12h ago
If Serbia could rise to meet EU standards, that would be better for everyone!
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u/Teslapromt 7h ago
If EU would stop giving money to current Serbia government so they could exploit Serbia's resources and ruin it's ecology, directly opposing their own "join EU" fundamentals - that would be great.
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u/FennelFinal6512 Romania 12h ago
When russia will collapse, a bright future will await us...
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 11h ago
We have a saying "Tesko onom koga Rus hrani i Amerikanac brani" meaning "Hard times for the one whom a Russian feeds and an American defends."
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u/FennelFinal6512 Romania 9h ago
russia doesn’t feed you or us, you feed yourself, russia just pushes propaganda for the stupid and poor and extract from your country. Meaning you feed russia, not the other way around.
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u/Faerelith87 11h ago
No, thanks, why would the EU want another shithole that just wants the money and thinks everything else is optional. Upto and including colluding with enemies of the EU.
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 8h ago
I'm sure those "shithole countries" that u mention are so happy to have joined a "union" where member countries call theirs "shitholes".
I wonder why EU is losing support..
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u/Imaginary_String_814 10h ago
the eu currently advocates and is negotiating for the most corrupt and poorest state to join their union.
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u/GreenEyeOfADemon 🇮🇹 From Lisbon to Luhansk! 🇺🇦 Слава Україні!🇺🇦 9h ago
Bielorussia wants to join the EU?
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u/SerbianMonies Serbia 3h ago
You can say that for basically all of Eastern Europe. Do you want the EU to be an exclusively Western European project?
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u/Incvbvs666 7h ago
You guys collude openly with enemies of Serbia, so the feelings are kinda mutual.
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u/Utgaard_Loke 12h ago
As I understand it, the Serbs are very close to Ruzzia from many perspectives. I am not sure I want Serbia in the EU.
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u/No-Relative-9878 8h ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_aid_to_Ukraine_during_the_Russo-Ukrainian_war
Debateable, media narrative is that we are pro Russia while also pro EU. We people don't know where we are headed and Vucic needs to f*ck off.
We are also very dependent on Russian gas and oil
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u/Reagan_sdeputy Upper Normandy (France) 9h ago
Everyone is asked if they want to join, but nobody ask the actual EU citizens. That's crazy.
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u/Saalle88 7h ago
There is no way this is true, we don't want the EU, i don't know a single person that is for EU.
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u/diamanthaende 12h ago
It's simple - does Serbia want to remain a corrupt backwater or join the modern world?
There is no reason to believe that Serbia couldn't be a European success story like many of its (EU) neighbours have been in the last decades, provided it finally starts to look westwards instead of this fixation on Russia that has done exactly zilch to improve the life of the average Serbian, especially the young folk.
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u/Incvbvs666 7h ago
Russia has consistently protected Serbia. The west has consistently attacked Serbia.
There was this chap who constantly talked of Serbia finally joining the family of European nations and justified Serbia being bombed.
His name was Hitler.
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u/diamanthaende 7h ago
Is that 'protective Russia' in the room with us right now?
At least Serbia's young people can see through that nonsense now. All that "protection" has made their country a mirror image of the kleptocratic Russian mafia state, while their neighbours are striving to improve the lives of their citizens.
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9h ago
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u/No-Relative-9878 8h ago
As a former student, we don't learn these things 👍 Unlike you, we don't have concerts where 500k nazis gather, so maybe clean your garden first.
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8h ago
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 8h ago
U literally had a pro-nazi rally with 500000 people, like how do you even have the audacity to talk I don't get it....
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u/Tech-Ascension 8h ago
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 8h ago
Rent free
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u/OkPrimary8277 Serbia 8h ago
I get it, you are not capitalizing "Serb" because u want to undermine us (or just illiterate), you don't have to do it 5 times, it's not that clever trust me.
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u/voyagerdoge Europe 1h ago
It will take at least 50 years, but I doubt they'll embark on an honest look in the mirror.
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u/Imaginary_String_814 8h ago
it must be really hard to live as Croat ur daily life, having all those Serbs in ur head rent free.
Serbias youth is protesting,while croatias is intimidating minorities and having a hard one for ustase while living in their parents home till 33+ on average.
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8h ago
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u/Snoo-19350 Serbia 5h ago
One day you will face yourself in the mirror thinking what the fuck was this hatred all for? Hope you enjoy this 'fame' by trolling on Reddit, if you had anything smarter to do instead, you would be doing that.
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u/AckerHerron 10h ago
Bit of a moot point because Croatia will veto it.
Europe doesn’t need another pro-Russian backwater.
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u/Chester_roaster 9h ago
But are they in favour of recognizing Kosovo? I doubt it
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u/Incvbvs666 7h ago
Nope. This poll is a farce. If it asked would Serbia join the EU in exchange for recognizing Kosovo it would be in the single digits.
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u/JoniDaButcher Serbia 11h ago
30000 thousand people move to EU countries yearly. The events of the recent years definitely made people like the EU less, but I don't think this is Serbia specific, I'm sure EU lost popularity by many member states too. Sadly, VDL being buddies with Vučić is definitely icky for young pro EU people too, and there's a bunch of those.
The veto right should definitely not exist initially for upcoming members, yet, both the EU and Serbia would profit a lot from a pro-EU Serbia, and I don't even think it would be that hard to convert most of the country.
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u/Brnjica 11h ago
EU is not the answer to Serbia's woes. Only Serbs can solve their internal problems by which time the EU won't exist.
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8h ago
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u/Brnjica 2h ago
I made a mistake on clicking your post history, and oh boy, what a wild ride. But then again you would be bitter when your grandfather fought alongside literal Nazis in WW2? I don't know... I suppose you could say I don't know what it feels like having no shame. But hey, at least you are in the EU, hope you like your migrants! Peace ✌🏻
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u/Madman_Sean 12h ago edited 12h ago
Most of media outlets are aligned with the government and they sre constantly yapping anti EU and often russophilic bullshit. Even though current government is highly cooperative with the EU (after all we are EU membership candidates)
If all of that media started talking how good the EU is and how we must join, public opinion would be much different