BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Tuesday praised Ukraine’s progress on reform to join the bloc despite concerns over its efforts to tackle corruption, and issued tough warnings to candidates Serbia and Georgia about democratic backsliding.
In a series of enlargement reports, the bloc’s executive branch, the European Commission, also said that Montenegro could wrap up its EU membership talks by the end of next year, leaving it first in line to
become the 28th member country.
The annual reports on 10 countries, most of them in the Western Balkans, come with the EU’s enlargement process all but stalled. Croatia was the last country to join, 12 years ago.
France, notably, has insisted that the EU is too unwieldy and must itself reform before taking more countries on board. National vetoes wielded by Hungary and increasingly Slovakia have slowed decision-making and action in the world’s biggest trading bloc.
The prospect of EU membership is a powerful driver of pro-democratic reform, and joining boosts trade and creates jobs. But hopefuls in the Balkans have become discouraged by the bloc’s failure to live up to its commitments.
Almost four years after Russia's full-scale invasion, the commission praised Ukraine for advancing key reforms. But it said that only “limited progress” had been made on combating corruption. A bill seen as undermining the independence of anti-corruption agencies sparked a public outcry this year and the first major protests since the war began, before it was withdrawn. The commission noted that the agencies and civil society groups report growing pressure from the state and security services. It said that “these developments cast doubts on Ukraine’s commitment to its anti-corruption agenda.”
Still, the commission said that Ukraine is committed to the “ambitious objective” of concluding accession talks by the end of 2028. To meet the goal, Brussels said, “an acceleration of the pace of reforms is required, notably with regards to the fundamentals, in particular rule of law.”
In a post on Telegram, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the report as “proof that even while defending against full-scale Russian aggression, Ukraine continues to reform and change in accordance with European standards.”
The most influential of the Western Balkans countries in line at Europe’s door, Serbia was warned that public concerns about corruption, the excessive use of force against protesters and a perceived lack of transparency “has led to a serious erosion of trust.”
Tens of thousands of students and other opponents of Serbia’s populist president, Aleksandar Vucic, converged on the city of Novi Sad over the weekend to commemorate the victims of a tragedy a year ago that killed 16 people.
“Reforms have significantly slowed down,” the commission warned. “Serbia is expected to overcome the standstill in the area of judiciary and fundamental rights overall and urgently reverse the backsliding on freedom of expression and the erosion of academic freedom.”
In 2024, the EU put Georgia’s membership talks on hold and cut financial support after the introduction of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms. A year on, the commission said, “the situation has sharply deteriorated, with serious democratic backsliding marked by a rapid erosion of the rule of law and severe restrictions on fundamental rights.” It said that it “considers Georgia a candidate country in name only,” and urged the governing Georgian Dream party to alter course.
The small Balkan country of Montenegro was hailed for making “significant progress” toward accession over the last year. The commission urged the government there to seek broad political consensus so that it can wind up its membership talks by the end of 2026. “Subject to maintaining the pace of reforms, Montenegro is on track to meet this ambitious objective,” it said.
Montenegro is the smallest of the Western Balkan countries with just over 600,000 people. It has been a NATO member since 2013, when it defied Russia, its traditional ally, to join the Western military alliance.
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Associated Press writer Barry Hatton in Lisbon contributed to this report.
