Balgarianovinite.com Serbian media report contradictory information about which European Union Member States did not give the green light to opening Cluster 3 for Serbia at Wednesday’s meeting in Brussels of the ambassadors of EU Member States, part of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER). Any opening or closing of negotiation chapters and clusters requires a unanimous decision by all EU Member States.
Quoting sources in diplomatic circles, Serbian news portal Savremena Politika reported that eight EU Member States opposed granting Belgrade this next step in EU integration, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Sweden, as well as the three Baltic states – Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, the publication notes.
As the main reasons for their opposition, the countries cited the situation regarding the rule of law in Serbia, as well as Belgrade’s insufficient alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policies, including the lack of sanctions against Russia.
According to unofficial information obtained by the news portal, the issue of opening Cluster 3, Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth, for Serbia is expected to be on the agenda of the upcoming COREPER meeting next week, as well as on the agenda of the EU General Affairs Council scheduled for July 14, but there is little chance that the countries currently opposed to the move will change their position in the meantime. On that date, Ukraine and Moldova will each open one negotiating cluster, while Montenegro and possibly Albania will close two negotiating clusters each.
Later on Wednesday, the Brussels correspondent of Serbian state broadcaster RTS reported that Bulgaria is not among the countries opposed to the opening of Cluster 3.
According to Radio Free Europe, the European Commission wants the fifth intergovernmental conference with Serbia to take place on the same day that Cluster 3 is opened.
Earlier this month, the European Commission recommended that EU Member States approve the opening of Cluster 3 for Serbia. The Commission noted at the time that, although none of the key political priorities had been fully met, Belgrade had made sufficient progress to take the next step on its path toward the EU.
The arguments for this were contained in the European Commission’s so-called “non-paper”, as well as in a special document that the Serbian government sent to the governments of EU Member States on July 3.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated at Tuesday night’s debate in the European Parliament on Serbia that the latest reform measures of the government in Belgrade are at the basis of the European Commission’s recommendation to open the cluster. She noted, among other things, that progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and that the latest steps in establishing the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) are encouraging.
Her position diverges with that of the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Serbia, Tonino Picula, MEP from Croatia, who proposed that the EU halt funding for the country under the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, because, in his words, Serbia has been in a severe crisis for the past two years and there is virtually no area in which its progress toward EU membership can be considered significant. Serbian Media with Contradictory Reports on Countries Opposing Serbia’s Cluster 3 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-08 16:55:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law