The Chairman of the Euro-Atlantic Council of Serbia, Dragan Shormaz, has reacted after the announcement of the visit of the head of diplomacy, Marko Djuric, to Russia.

In a post on the X network, Shormaz asked the head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas and the head of Dutch diplomacy Caspar Veldkamp whether Serbia is a real candidate for membership in the European Union when it continues to maintain close ties with Vladimir Putin's Russia.

"Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric will be in Moscow for the next two days. So much for Chapter 31! Corruption, media obscurity, crime, controlled justice... absolute power in the hands of one man! EU candidate?!" wrote Shormaz.

Djuric will visit Moscow on February 17-18, where he will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia Konstantin Iosifovich Kosachov, and Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia Pyotr Tolstoy.

Serbia is one of the few European countries to maintain close relations with Russia, after the Kremlin launched an invasion of neighboring Ukraine almost three years ago.

Despite calls from the European Union, whose membership Serbia aspires to, official Belgrade refuses to impose sanctions on Russia.

The Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) has been placed on the US sanctions list due to its ownership stake in the Russian company Gazprom Neft. The company was sanctioned due to the so-called "secondary risk" - due to its connection to Gazprom Neft.

Serbia applied for EU membership in December 2009 and was granted candidate status in March 2012. Membership negotiations began in January 2014. So far, 22 chapters have been opened.

Hungary's request in November 2024 to move accession talks with Serbia to the next phase was rejected by a sizeable group of EU countries, making it impossible to secure the necessary unanimity.

Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden were among those who opposed the move, pointing to Belgrade's unclear record on fundamental rights, tense relations with Kosovo and continued refusal to impose sanctions on Russia.

The proposal submitted by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU was intended to bring Serbia closer to opening Group 3 of the accession process, which covers eight individual chapters related to competitiveness and economic growth, such as taxation, monetary policy, employment, customs union and scientific research.

Serbia had previously unblocked five of these eight chapters, but Brussels changed the rules in 2020 to create thematic clusters, which must now be opened in full after meeting a set of preliminary benchmarks.

According to the European Commission, Serbia has met the standards and is "technically ready" to start talks under Group 3, leaving the final decision in the hands of member states, which must get the green light at every step of the process unanimously.

The consensus failed to materialize after Hungary, a staunch supporter of Serbia's European integration, submitted the proposal to Group 3. The opposition group acknowledged the progress made by Serbia in its membership bid, but insisted that "concrete results are required" before moving forward.

A major point of concern around the table was Belgrade's apparent lack of alignment with EU foreign policy, particularly when it comes to the many sanctions the bloc has imposed on Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vuçiq has said he has no "shame" that he maintains "traditionally very good relations" with Moscow and refuses to follow Western restrictions.

"Nobody in Europe agrees with me on this issue, but everyone in Europe understands my position," he said. Vuçiq in September.

Belgrade is also under scrutiny for its free trade agreement with China, which came into effect on July 1 and immediately eliminated 60% of tariffs between the two sides.

Serbia "has maintained high-level relations with the Russian Federation and intensified its relations with China, raising questions about Serbia's strategic direction," the Commission wrote in the enlargement report issued in October 2024.

The policy of Vuçiq It resembles that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has broken ranks with his EU colleagues to foster good relations with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.