Gavrilovic: Serbia is, in fact, a country that has renounced the European path

Speaking about the internal reforms in Serbia, Zoran Gavrilovic from the Bureau of Social Research (Birodi) says that the report of the European Commission speaks of the fact that Serbia is a country that has renounced the European path.

“And yes, we simply have a kind of self-isolation, that is, the current system of government, which can be characterized as a personal form of government, in fact, it tends to make the existing situation in the area of the rule of law, freedom of speech, and association simply stop,” says Gavrilovic for Voice of America.

He says that a certain progress is noticeable in the sphere of the economy. However, he states that if there is no rule of law, freedom and a free society, then even that economic growth is not sustainable.

The Voice of America interlocutor predicts that it will not be easy in 2023 either, given the burden Serbia is carrying into the next year.

“We are entering with personal rule, the populism industry, institutions without integrity and a public that is devastated, that is, we are entering with all those challenges with which we entered the year 2022, so that Serbia is stagnating. And on the other hand, when it comes to the relationship with the surrounding, above all with the EU, we are in the phase of self-isolation, i.e. Serbia is in a kind of EU sanctions due to its policy, because the fact that Serbia does not open new chapters, i.e. clusters is in fact an indicator that “Serbia is in fact under a kind of EU sanctions,” concludes Gavrilovic in an interview with Voice of America.