Marta Kos meets triumphant Serbian students in bold first talks

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos held her first high-level meeting with representatives of Serbia’s election-winning Student List on Monday, offering EU support for democratic reforms.

The talks in Brussels were held at Kos’s invitation.

Kos disclosed the meeting while speaking to MEPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Euronews reported.

The Student List emerged from months of protests that ended the 14-year rule of Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

The movement secured an absolute majority in parliament in the 25 October elections.

For Brussels, the political change offers an opportunity to reset relations with the Western Balkans’ most influential country.

But the movement’s positions on Russia and Kosovo suggest that a change of government will not necessarily mean a fundamental shift in Serbia’s foreign policy.

Kos confirmed the meeting during a hearing before the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, as the European Commission presented its annual enlargement assessment.

“Serbia has the chance for a fresh start,” Kos said.

“The new Serbian government has an opportunity to turn the page, strengthen democratic institutions and fundamental rights, and take the necessary steps to advance on Serbia’s accession path.”

The four Student List representatives who attended the meeting told Kos that restoring the rule of law and democracy was their main priority.

They stressed that the reforms were important both for Europe and, above all, for Serbian citizens.

The movement emerged following the collapse of a concrete canopy at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024.

The collapse killed 16 people and triggered widespread protests and allegations of corruption and negligence under the SNS government.

“The protesters in Serbia want the same as the European Union is asking from Serbia, meaning anti-corruption, free and independent media, free and independent judiciary,” Kos said.

“Good neighbourly relations and, of course, also strategic alignment with the European Union.”

The meeting focused primarily on restoring democracy and the rule of law in Serbia rather than on the country’s EU accession process.

This distinction is significant because it signals that Brussels is prioritizing fundamental reforms over fast-track membership talks.

Serbia has been an EU candidate country since 2012.

The accession process requires candidate countries to align their laws and institutions with EU standards across 35 policy chapters.

Negotiations with Serbia have been slow, with only a handful of chapters opened and none fully closed.

The rule of law chapters — covering judiciary, fundamental rights and justice — are typically opened first and closed last.

They are considered the most difficult and the most important.

The Student List’s electoral victory came as a surprise to many observers.

What began as student-led protests over a deadly infrastructure failure grew into a nationwide movement demanding accountability.

The protests drew hundreds of thousands of people across Serbian cities over several months.

The SNS government, which had dominated Serbian politics since 2012, was unable to contain the public anger.

Elections were called, and the Student List campaigned on an anti-corruption platform.

Their victory was widely seen as a rejection of the old political order.

Now, the movement must govern — and that means making choices about Serbia’s international relationships.

The Student List’s foreign policy platform has been deliberately vague on some issues.

But sources close to the movement have indicated that they do not support joining Western sanctions on Russia.

Serbia has historically maintained close ties with Moscow, including energy cooperation and military neutrality.

The country has also refused to recognize Kosovo’s independence, which it declared in 2008.

Kosovo is recognized by more than 100 countries, including the United States and most EU member states.

Five EU countries — Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus — do not recognize Kosovo.

This creates a complex diplomatic landscape for any Serbian government seeking EU membership.

Brussels has made normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo a key condition for progress in accession talks.

The Student List has not yet articulated a clear position on how it would approach the Kosovo question.

Kos’s meeting with the Student List representatives was described as exploratory and preliminary.

No concrete commitments were made on either side.

The European Commission is expected to release a more detailed assessment of Serbia’s reform progress in its next annual enlargement package.

That report will likely serve as a benchmark for whether the new government is making good on its promises.

Kos’s role as European Commissioner for Enlargement puts her at the center of EU efforts to integrate the Western Balkans.

The region includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

All of these countries are at different stages of the accession process.

Serbia is considered a key country because of its size, economy and geopolitical position.

The EU has invested significant diplomatic capital in supporting democratic reforms in Serbia.

The victory of the Student List has been met with cautious optimism in Brussels.

Officials are hopeful that a new government will be more willing to implement reforms than the previous administration.

But they are also aware that the Student List is a new political force with no governing experience.

The movement’s leaders are young, many in their twenties and early thirties.

They rose to prominence through protest organizing, not through traditional political careers.

This has raised questions about their ability to manage the complex machinery of government.

Kos’s meeting was therefore as much about building a working relationship as it was about discussing policy.

The fact that Kos initiated the meeting is itself a signal of EU support for the new government.

It suggests that Brussels is willing to give the Student List a chance to prove itself.

But the EU also expects results.

Kos made clear in her public remarks that the path forward requires concrete action on reforms.

The Student List representatives acknowledged this expectation in their comments after the meeting.