surveillance of demonstrators. The report expressed concern over judicial reforms then under consideration and highlighted worrying accounts of pressure on academic community and restrictions on media freedom. While the European Parliament delegation heard extensive criticism regarding developments in Serbia, authorities sought the following week to send a different signal to the European Union by establishing a new Operational Team for Serbia’s EU accession process. The Government adopted its decision at the initiative of President Aleksandar Vučić, who had publicly called for the creation of a special body to accelerate European integration. Proposal was adopted almost verbatim, despite the President having no formal competences in the accession process. Team is headed by Serbia’s Head of Mission to the EU, Danijel Apostolović, and includes ministers of finance, justice, agriculture and interior, minister for European integration, Speaker of Parliament and several advisers. Its inaugural meeting was held on 30 January. Stated priorities include opening Cluster 3, meeting interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24, preparing for the opening of additional clusters and implementing recommendations from the European Commission’s report. Critics note that this represents the third reorganisation of Serbia’s accession structures in just over four years, with none of the previous reforms resulting in measurable acceleration. The former Coordination Body for the Accession Process has now been replaced by the Operational Team, even though, according to analysts, the principal obstacles to Serbia’s EU path are political rather than technical. Observers also point to the unusual composition of the team- absence of the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, coupled with the inclusion of Speaker of Parliament- as further blurring the line between executive and legislative branches. Moreover, the team is chaired by an ambassador who is hierarchically junior to several of its members. In this context, some analysts view the establishment of the team as an attempt to signal reform commitment to European partners while sidestepping core concerns raised by Brussels. As one assessment put it, new Operational Team risks becoming little more than“a bandage that does not cover the wound.” IMPRESSUM Publisher Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES) Belgrade Office Dositejeva 51/1, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia Author Centre for Contemporary Politics Makedonska 21, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia The opinions expressed in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the FES. Commercial use of all media published by the FES is not permitted without the written consent of the FES. March 2026 ↗ serbia.fes.de ↗ centarsavremenepolitike.rs Pressure from the EU mounts as the Serbian government attempts to further curtail judicial independence 4