The people of the Western Balkans have to be offered something tangible by the European Union or the region will have a hard time maintaining its stability, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned in a speech at the 8th annual Belgrade Security Forum.

“We have to offer everyone in the Western Balkans something tangible, promises must be kept and people have to see that,” Vucic said, adding that a stronger European Union presence is needed in the region following the outcome of the referendum in Macedonia on an agreement between Skoplje and Athens to resolve their dispute over the name Macedonia.  

He expressed the fear that the region will not be able to maintain stability “if we underestimate all factors and the people’s will and disappointment”.  

The Serbian president warned that the EU might no longer be viewed as “the kind of dream, the light of democracy and freedom that we aspired to”, following the outcome of the referendum in Macedonia. “What was offered to ordinary people was not as attractive to ordinary people as the EU thought,” he said, adding that something substantial has to be offered to the Western Balkans.  

Vucic started his speech saying that Serbia remains committed to cooperation and continues to contribute to solving regional problems as a reliable partner, but then said he was not going to continue reading a speech written for him and made off-the-cuff remarks.  

He said that Serbia will do its utmost to preserve and maintain stability in the region and develop good relations with its neighbours while firmly remaining on its EU path.

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