Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "Have Serbia and the EU Fallen Out For Good?" video.

  1. From a European perspective, we don't really have any negative thoughts when it comes to Serbia and see them in the same light as other eastern European countries. But Serbia isn't doing its self any favours by trying to play all sides, Hungary have been doing that and the last thing the EU wants is another Hungary. I don't know what the support is in Serbia from the population and political groups is like, but if Serbia ever wants to join the EU, they really have to make a commitment on that, which isn't what Serbia is doing, it's playing games and using threats, which won't achieve anything in bringing Serbia closer to the EU. Serbia really needs to make a choice, do they think their interest lies in the EU or do they think it's more towards Russia? Considering everything Russia is doing in Ukraine, it should be an easy choice, but common sense isn't a strong point of the human race, so personally, I think Serbia needs to make its own mistakes as I think that is the only way they will learn.
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  2.  @BlueTigerReal  Ukraine likely could be a far better choice then Serbia and it's all thanks to Putin, basically, thanks to the invasion, Ukraine from a public and political level will put far more effort into cleaning up the country and doing the reforms needed to join the EU, fear and war is a very good motivator. So Ukraine can't join until the war is settled, but I bet once it is, it will be far easier for Ukraine now to pass the reforms needed to join the EU because of the public support to do so and because it would be bold of any politician to try and block or hold back the reforms, in other words, there will likely be far fewer games being played and how quickly a country can join the EU really does depend on the commitment of the country in question, some join far sooner than others because the support to do the changes needed are there. So it wouldn't surprise me if Ukraine does some rapid reforms to speed up it's EU membership bid once the war is over with.
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  3. Honestly, the last thing the EU needs is another Hungary, so I doubt the EU cares that much about Serbia and what they want when it comes to joining the EU, after all, the EU has more than enough countries to chew on that actually want to join the EU and that is likely going to take the next 2 or so decades alone, which by then, other countries will likely want to join also, so Serbia isn't that important to the EU and maybe throwing them to the wolves at Russia and China might be the wake-up call they need. Still, the EU will likely keep the door open, but the more Serbia keeps playing games and playing all sides, the longer it's going to be for any chance of them joining the EU, in other words, Serbia is just making it worse for themselves. At the end of the day, Serbia doesn't really have any leverage here, playing all sides like they are doing puts them in a position of going nowhere fast, if Serbia really wants to join the EU, they have to show a real commitment that they want to join, otherwise, they'll end up like Turkey, that the door is open but might as well not be, but seriously, what makes these countries think that playing the EU, Russia and China off each other is going to carry them any favours with the EU? It doesn't Serbia is just hurting its own interest, but sometimes, countries have to make their own mistakes to learn from them, Serbia seems like one of them.
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