The EU has invited Serbia to participate in the bloc's collective gas purchase initiative, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen informed.
"We are connecting Serbia to the EU energy market and that is a real guarantee that Serbian families will be safe throughout the winter," Ms. Von der Leyen said after a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade.
Ms. Von der Leyen also said that Serbia should harmonize its foreign policy with the EU, including imposing sanctions on Russia, and immediately start the necessary reforms to join the bloc.
The proposal comes as the bloc looks to reduce the Balkan's dependence on Russian energy.
The EU launched a common gas purchase platform in 2023 to facilitate participants in reaching better deals after Russia cuts gas supplies to Europe in 2022, pushing European energy prices to record highs.
The EU wants to completely eliminate Russian oil and gas from January 2028. The EU wants Serbia, a candidate for EU membership but with deep cultural and political ties with Russia, to be unified with Europe on energy policy. Serbia currently imports about 80% of its gas from Russia.
It is not yet clear whether Serbia has joined the EU initiative. In June this year, the Serbian Energy Ministry said it was working to integrate the country's gas and electricity markets with the EU market by the end of 2027.
The EU's proposal comes days after the US imposed sanctions on Russia's Serbia oil and gas company NIS, which has prompted neighboring Croatia to cut crude oil supplies and raised concerns that Serbia's only refinery could be shut down for several weeks.
President Vucic said that Serbia wants to diversify energy supply sources and build a gas pipeline to neighboring countries, Northern province and Romania.
He informed that Serbia has currently ensured enough oil and gas, but there are still long-term risks to supply. "The winter will not be easy for us," he said.
