Key facts
- Serbia has provided over €60 million in financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
- Serbia sent electrical equipment and generators to Ukraine from its reserves.
- Former Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić rejected the perception of Serbia as a Russian satellite.
- Brnabić cited perceived double standards in the EU accession process for Serbia.
- Serbia is seeking to join the European Union despite these frustrations.
Serbia's former prime minister, Ana Brnabić, has asserted that Serbs are not 'little Russians' and that Serbia is an autonomous, independent nation, pushing back against perceptions of it being a Russian satellite. Speaking to Euronews, Brnabić highlighted Serbia's significant support for Ukraine since the outbreak of the war in February 2022, detailing over €60 million in direct financial and humanitarian aid, including the provision of electrical equipment and generators from Serbia's own reserves when they were unavailable on the market.
Brnabić emphasized the regular communication between Serbian President Vučić and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, as well as her own contact with the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk. She acknowledged Serbia's traditionally good relations with the Russian Federation, noting Russia's condemnation of NATO's 1999 air strikes on Serbia. However, she pointed out that these ties are not without friction, citing Russian criticism of Serbia's votes at the UN condemning Russian aggression and its aid to Ukraine.
During a conference in Brussels and in her interview, Brnabić also voiced frustration over what she described as double standards in Serbia's European Union accession process. She specifically mentioned the requirement for Serbia to implement all ODIHR recommendations to open accession cluster three, a condition not imposed on other candidate countries that have already opened all their clusters. Brnabić stressed that despite these challenges, Serbia remains committed to its EU aspirations and will continue to work towards membership, advocating for more uniform standards for all candidate nations.