Serbia steps out of line again, does not respect EU Council decisions on Belarus and the fight against terrorism

Serbia is again the only candidate country for EU membership in the Western Balkans that did not respect the new EU Council decisions on restrictive measures due to the situation in Belarus and its participation in the Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as due to the war. against terrorism. As the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borrell, announced yesterday, on February 24, the Council of the EU approved the decision (CFSP) 2023/4211, which extends the restrictive measures against Belarus for another year, until February 28. , 2024. and completes the list of persons to whom restrictive measures are applied. On February 24, the Council of the EU also approved the decision (CFSP) 2023/4221 for updating the list of individuals, groups and entities to which specific measures for the fight against terrorism are applied. All other candidate countries for EU membership in the Western Balkans, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina are in line with the new decisions of the EU Council. Serbia is the only candidate country for EU membership in the Western Balkans that did not respect 15 previous EU Council decisions on restrictive measures due to Ukraine, which were adopted in January and February this year and in July, September and November 2022. It has not respected the EU Council's decisions on restrictive measures due to human rights violations and the situation in Mali since February of this year,