Serbia willing to become EU member without holding veto right

Serbia is willing to give up its veto rights if it paves the way for European Union membership.

President Aleksandar Vučić expressed this stance in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) this week, Caliber.Az reports.

Vučić told FAZ on February 18 that "membership without veto rights is acceptable for Serbia."

"The most important aspect for us is the common market and the free flow of goods, people and capital," he added, noting that these are "the central values that we want to achieve through EU membership."

The German daily recalls that Vučić is not the first leader to consider such an option. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama voiced support for such a model in December.

"Get us into Europe, and I am ready to sign an agreement stating clearly that we don't want to have [the power] of a veto," Rama said at the time.

The article highlights the broader debate in Brussels, as politicians remain divided over proposals that could create two classes of EU members. Montenegro, another EU candidate country, opposes such a model.

However, Anton Hofreiter, head of the EU affairs committee in the German Bundestag, told FAZ that despite some candidates’ public opposition, the situation behind the scenes is less clear.

"There are several governments that publicly reject it with disgust and indignation. In private, it is different," Hofreiter said, noting that he has received signals from Western Balkan countries suggesting the initiative is both constructive and realistic.

By Nazrin Sadigova