According to the “Serbian Economist,” Serbia’s lack of progress in its EU accession negotiations could create additional challenges for Ukraine and Moldova, as some EU countries are insisting on maintaining a geographical balance between candidates from Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans.
Euronews reports this, citing EU diplomats.
Ukraine has opened two of the six negotiation clusters in recent weeks, but further acceleration of the process may face demands to simultaneously advance Serbia’s application.
“Progress in one direction creates pressure to move forward in the other as well,” one European diplomat told Euronews.
In early July, the European Commission once again recommended opening Cluster 3—dedicated to competitiveness and inclusive growth—for Serbia. Negotiations regarding Serbia have effectively remained stalled since December 2021.
However, eight EU member states opposed opening the chapter: the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Croatia. Denmark, Luxembourg, and Latvia are also not yet ready to support this decision. The consent of all 27 EU member states is required to open a negotiation chapter.
Opponents of Serbia’s advancement point to Belgrade’s insufficient progress in the areas of the rule of law, judicial independence, and democratic standards. Another reason is Serbia’s refusal to join the EU’s sanctions against Russia.
The European Commission, on the other hand, believes that Belgrade has implemented some of the recommendations, repealed controversial changes to judicial legislation, improved cooperation with the EU on foreign policy, and strengthened ties with Ukraine. At the same time, Brussels acknowledges that Serbia needs to continue reforming its judicial and prosecutorial systems.
France, Spain, and a group of countries calling themselves the “Friends of the Western Balkans” advocate for preserving Serbia’s membership prospects. They fear that Ukraine’s rapid progress against the backdrop of Belgrade’s prolonged stagnation will be perceived as the application of double standards.
Euronews emphasizes that the negotiation processes for Ukraine and Serbia have not yet been formally merged. However, as Kyiv and Chisinau push to open the remaining clusters by the end of the year, demands for equal treatment of the candidate countries may intensify.
The governments of Serbia and Ukraine have issued a joint statement on the continuation of negotiations on a free trade agreement, said Marko Čadež, president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“Ukraine is the only European country with which Serbia does not have a signed free trade agreement. After direct contacts between the relevant institutions on this issue were reestablished last year, this week, during the visit of a Ukrainian government-business delegation to Belgrade, we must take this long-awaited step forward,” he said.
According to Chadezh, the document is expected to be signed in the coming days by Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, and Jagoda Lazarević, Serbia’s Minister of Domestic and Foreign Trade.
The President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry noted that there is interest in such an agreement among both the Serbian and Ukrainian business communities, especially in sectors where lower tariffs, simplified procedures, and more predictable business conditions could increase companies’ exports.
“That is precisely why it is important that, as negotiations continue, we arrive at a well-prepared sector-specific agreement focused on specific industries,” Chadezh emphasized.
He also noted that the amended and simplified rules for the cumulation of preferential origin under the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention, to which both Serbia and Ukraine are signatories, could expand the range of components for products traded on preferential terms with the EU, EFTA, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Turkey.
Ukraine and Singapore have intensified negotiations on opening the market to Ukrainian pork and finalizing the procedures for beginning its export, according to the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection (SSFSCP).
According to the report, during a visit to Singapore, a delegation from the agency, led by its head Serhiy Tkachuk, discussed with the leadership of the Singapore Food Agency the accreditation of Ukrainian enterprises in accordance with previously submitted applications.
“Ukraine already has experience cooperating with Singapore. To date, five forms of veterinary certificates for export have been agreed upon: heat-treated and canned meat products, poultry meat, table eggs, egg products, and pet food,” Tkachuk emphasized.
The trip also included a meeting with representatives of the Meat Traders Association (Singapore). Singaporean companies expressed interest in sourcing Ukrainian pork to diversify imports and strengthen food security.
For their part, representatives of the Meat Industry Association and Ukrainian exporters presented their production capacities and quality standards. The host side familiarized the Ukrainian delegation with the technologies used to prepare meat for sale in Singapore’s retail chains.
Following the meetings, agreements were reached on further cooperation to facilitate Ukrainian businesses’ entry into this market.
The US and Qatar are negotiating the possible purchase of Ukrainian interceptor drones designed to destroy Shahed-type strike UAVs, amid growing interest among allies in cheaper air defense systems, Reuters reports.
According to the agency, the talks concern, in particular, SkyFall’s P1-SUN interceptor. A company representative told Reuters that deliveries are only possible with the “green light” from the Ukrainian government and on condition that the export does not reduce Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.
Reuters notes that SkyFall’s production capacity allows it to produce up to 50,000 interceptors per month, and potential exports without harming Ukraine’s needs are estimated at 5,000-10,000 units.
The effectiveness of this class of air defense systems is confirmed by Ukrainian statistics: according to the Ukrainian military, in February, 70% of drones shot down in and around Kyiv were destroyed by interceptor drones.
The cost of interceptors is significantly lower than traditional air defense systems. Reuters reports that SkyFall sells the P1-SUN to the Ukrainian military for approximately $1,000 (depending on the configuration), while PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot system can cost up to $4 million per unit.
The United States and Ukraine discussed during talks an “ambitious goal” of agreeing on a draft peace agreement with Russia by March 2026, although the timeline could shift due to the lack of agreements on key issues, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the course of the consultations.
According to the agency, the framework under discussion envisages putting a possible agreement to a nationwide referendum in Ukraine and holding nationwide elections on the same day. Two Reuters sources said May was discussed as a benchmark, however several interlocutors called such a schedule “fantastic.”
Reuters separately points to practical and legal constraints: holding nationwide elections in Ukraine is prohibited during martial law, and election organizers previously assessed that preparing a vote under current conditions would require about six months and legislative changes. In addition, Kyiv, according to the agency’s sources, insists that a ceasefire regime is needed for the campaign in order to ensure the integrity of the vote.
In parallel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States would like to find a solution to end the war “by summer,” and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Reuters that Kyiv seeks to speed up the negotiation process, calling the U.S. role key to reaching a final agreement.
In an evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Ukrainian negotiating team will hold a preparatory meeting tomorrow to agree on the framework for future negotiations and all organizational details, and on Monday, February 2, will travel to the United Arab Emirates to participate in trilateral negotiations scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of next week.
“There was a report from our negotiating team. An agreement has already been reached on a trilateral meeting at the appropriate level. This meeting will take place next week, as planned, on Wednesday and Thursday. In the Emirates, as last time,” Zelensky emphasized.
Zelensky added that a meeting is scheduled for Monday to agree on the framework for the talks and prepare for the negotiations, and the team will set off on Monday evening.
“Many leaders and different countries are with us in this process, supporting Ukraine, and we are coordinating on a daily basis. In February, we will be quite active in foreign policy, and starting tomorrow, we will have contacts and meetings,” the president said in a statement.
