Serbia Must Turn Toward EEU, Drop 'Second-Class' EU Membership Bid

After years of fruitless negotiations on the EU membership, Serbia needs to chart a new course of strategic partnership with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), chairman of the Serbian Dveri political movement, told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova — Serbia applied to join the European Union in 2009 and received an EU candidate status in 2012. Currently, Belgrade is in the process of negotiating its accession to the bloc.

"After years of fruitless negotiations with the EU, we see no alternative to a strategic partnership with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union," Bosko Obradovic told Sputnik.

The Eurasian Economic Union includes the member-states of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. It is an integration association, with the aim of streamlining the flow of goods and services between its member countries.

"Serbia, which is currently experiencing a decrease in domestic production and serious social challenges, will not benefit from second-class EU membership status while becoming a source of cheap labor for Western Europe," Obradovic stated.

The politician advocates economic patriotism and intensified cooperation with Russia, noting that instead of facing economic pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Serbia needs to consider the opportunities that the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) could offer and choose to accede to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) instead of pursuing a policy of rapprochement with NATO.