ValEUs Policy Brief no. 4 – Enforcement of the Rule of Law in Serbia – A Policy Proposal (Léo Christophe, Sonia Kougioni, Marija Momiroska)
In this Fourth issue of ValEUs Young Generation Policy Briefs, Léo Christophe, Sonia Kougioni and Marija Momiroska address the persistent gap between Serbia’s formal commitments to the rule of law and its political practices, which undermine domestic democratic development and the credibility of the EU enlargement process.
Enforcement of the Rule of Law in Serbia
– A Policy Proposal
By Léo Christophe, Sonia Kougioni and Marija Momiroska
A publication by the Jean Monnet Policy Network “ValEUs”
No. 4 | 9th June 2025
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Executive Summary
This policy paper addresses the persistent gap between Serbia’s formal commitments to the rule of law and its political practices, which undermine domestic democratic development and the credibility of the EU enlargement process. Drawing on the Copenhagen Criteria and liberal democratic theory, we evaluate three policy options: a transactional funding mechanism, a legally binding EU-Serbia rule of law agreement, and the suspension of accession negotiations. The policy brief recommends a dual-track approach that combines positive conditionality with civil society empowerment. This strategy presents a feasible, sustainable, and politically balanced solution to strengthen the rule of law and reinforce the EU’s transformative role in the Western Balkans.
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About the authors:
Léo Christophe is pursuing a Franco-German double Master´s degree in European Studies at the European University Viadrina and Sciences Po Strasbourg. He previously earned a Franco-German Double Bachelor of Political Sciences at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg and the IEP of Fontainebleau. He is fluent in English and German and a native French speaker. He has interned with the French Senate and National Assembly for members of Parliament and is currently working as a parliamentary assistant in the State Parliament of Brandenburg. Additionally, he has served as a student representative at various universities he attended for many years, is the vice president of the student parliament at European University Viadrina and is a young ambassador for the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ/DFJW), where he is responsible for trilateral programmes. His main interests include Franco-German friendship and European integration, particularly in the South Caucasus (B.A. thesis on EU-Armenia interdependencies, which received the highest grade), as well as public services.
Sonia Kougioni holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in European Studies at the European University Viadrina in a bilingual programme (German/English). Professionally, she worked for over two years as an EU Project Assistant at the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation, where she contributed to EU programmes such as INTERREG and the European Partnership Agreement. She is fluent in English, German, and Serbian, and is a native speaker of Greek. Her academic and linguistic strengths were enhanced by a six-month internship at Transparency International Germany in Berlin, where she supported press monitoring and executive operations related to anti-corruption efforts. Her main areas of academic interest include the rule of law, corruption, the Balkans, and right-wing extremism and radical ideologies
Marija Momiroska, born in Skopje, holds a bachelor’s degree in Law and Politics from the European University Viadrina and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in European Studies, focusing on Politics. She has worked for almost a year as a student assistant at the European Studies Coordination Bureau, where she contributes to the creation of the newsletter, conducts interviews with professors, and engages with students on various topics related to the programme. In addition to preparing lessons and conducting research, she actively contributes to the development of communication and academic resources within the department. Marija also completed an internship at the Center for Research and Policy Making, where she worked on a research project focusing on gender equality in Serbia. Her main academic interests include migration, the Western Balkans, the Macedonian question, and EU enlargement politics.
About the Project
ValEUs brings together 20 universities from five continents, combining their strong expertise in EU studies across a wide range of academic disciplines. The Jean Monnet Network will foster joint research capacities, develop innovative teaching collaboration, and engage in societal policy debate to establish impactful policy recommendations. ValEUs is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission (2024-2026).
Imprint
ValEUs. Research & Education Network on Contestations to EU Foreign Policy
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Project number: 101127800
Email: contact@valeus.eu
Website: https://valeus.eu/
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