President Vučić’s trip to Moscow doesn’t represent a turning point, rather a move within a broader balancing act—one which the EU continues to tolerate, despite its increasingly sharp rhetoric, due to interests that are far from clear-cut. In this game, in a world that’s no longer unipolar, the only certainty is who the losers are: the citizens of Serbia
Was Vučić’s visit to Moscow truly a watershed moment that resulted in Europe beginning to seek his replacement, or merely a political misstep that the EU will soon forgive—particularly if, as some analysts suggest, the move was primarily aimed at shoring up domestic support at a time when his popularity appears to be waning? Should the EU’s muted response thus far be interpreted as further encouragement for the so-called “four pillars” policy that Vučić has been pursuing, with varying degrees of consistency? Ultimately, is such a policy now passé, or does it retain strategic value in a world that no longer revolves around a single power centre? How should we interpret current geopolitical shifts, and how can a small country pursue a far-sighted foreign policy in an era of renewed competition between global and regional powers? The contributors to this issue’s CorD Focus offer numerous— and often contradictory—interpretations of the Serbia–EU relationship.