Dynamics of the Serbian EU accession process – key issues and the challenges of state democratisation in an era of populism

Abstract

The current Serbian authorities (aligned with the Serbian ProgressiveParty) have pushed Serbia towards effective reforms over the past severalyears and improved its image on the international arena through an intensifieddiplomatic offensive after 2015. This has led to a situation in which theSerbian state became a political and economic partner in both regional andintegration projects. The latter is demonstrated by the arduous but progressiveaccession process to the European Union.After 2000, international and Serbian public opinion greeting the end of theregime of Slobodan Milošević expected rapid democratisation of the statebased on statements by Serbian politicians who had declared a West Europeancourse of the state. The short-lived rule of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić,confirmed this; however, the policy of his successors was no longer so unambiguous.For almost a decade, Serbia oscillated between populism anddeclared democratisation, without making major changes, expected by bothsociety and the European Union.When after the year 2012 the Serbian Progressive Party came to power (theparty was founded as a conservative grouping and had radical roots), itseemed that the Serbian state would be pushed towards a more conservative,anti-European and nationalist direction. However, that did not happen.Opinion about the last six years of the group’s rule is varied. This paper aimsto try to answer the question whether during the party’s rule, Serbia has beendemocratising and whether in this era of nationalist movements and populism,the country has a chance at real democratisation and finishing the processof accession to the EU?