October 31, 2025.

Jacques Delors Institute.

A policy brief, authored by Benjamin Couteau and published by the Jacques Delors Institute in October 2025, analyzes the democratic crisis currently unfolding in Serbia and its implications for the European Union’s enlargement policy.

It argues that the protest movement sparked by the tragedy in Novi Sad reflects a growing demand for transparency, an independent judiciary, media freedom and the fight against corruption. The document highlights the European Union’s cautious stance toward President Aleksandar Vučić’s authoritarian tendencies, noting that this complacency risks undermining the credibility of the accession process. It therefore calls on the EU to exert firmer pressure on the Serbian authorities and to make progress toward accession contingent on the implementation of concrete democratic reforms.

Link to Couteau, B. “Serbia and the European Union: the moment of decision”, Brief, Jacques Delors Institute, October 2025.