Serbia (Republic of Serbia) is a landlocked country in southeastern Europe, located between the Pannonian Lowland and the Balkan Peninsula. It has about 7 million inhabitants and its capital is Belgrade.
Until 1992, Serbia was part of Yugoslavia, and was later reduced to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro; following the referendum held on 21 May 2006, Montenegro chose independence and the Federation was dissolved, transforming Serbia into a sovereign state. The end of the Union marks the last act in the long separation process of the six republics belonging to the old Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia), proclaimed in 1945.
In 2023, a significant economic growth in Serbia is recorded thanks to a good performance in the agricultural and infrastructure sectors, alongside a strong recovery in the energy sector after the 2022 crisis. Net exports and consumptions are the main drivers of growth, while investment is contracting. In the medium term, Serbian economy is expected to grow steadily at around 3-4% per year, supported by increases in consumption and investment alongside an increase in exports.
Serbia is a member of the United Nations, OSCE and the Council of Europe.
Accession process – main timeline [1]
December 2009 – Serbia applies for membership of the European Union
March 2012 – Serbia granted candidate status
January 2014 – Accession negotiations launched
July 2016 – 2 important negotiations chapters related to Rule of law are opened
December 2021 –"4 chapters group" related to green agenda and sustainable connectivity are opened
February 2023 – EU presents a proposal to stabilize relationships between Kosovo and Serbia, mandatory for both countries accession process
The Italian Development Cooperation is present in Serbia since 2001 and Italian projects supported the stabilization process in terms of institutional strengthening, economic development and social policies. Areas of intervention focused on alleviation of poverty and improvement of socio-economic conditions. Technical assistance was also provided to several ministries to support alignment with EU standards on public procurement. The country's economic development has also been supported by soft loans to promote and develop small and medium enterprises, in particular for infrastructures related to environment and agriculture.
Currently, AICS Tirana is funding in Serbia 2 projects for a total budget of 14.5 million EUR. In addition to the EU support for Internal Market project funded by the European Union, AICS Tirana is implementing last phase of the so-called "Antonione Protocol", package of 12.9 million Euro aimed at providing goods and services in key sectors for Serbia's development, in partnership with the Ministry for European Integration and national ministries (Agriculture, Forests and Water Management, Environmental Protection, Education, Science and Technological Development, Energy and Mining, Health).