Serbia ignored its obligations to the European Union to adopt the Environmental Protection Strategy. That's why Brussels has blocked some funds, claims Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Forestry, Aleksandar Anđelković. This can mean the loss of millions of euros in grants
"Accelerating the green transition is one of the most important priorities of the Government of Serbia. Bearing in mind the ambitious goals until 2050, it is clear that we have to do much more," said the Minister of Environmental Protection Irena Vujović in the middle of 2024 on the occasion of World Environment Day. She then announced the adoption of the Green Agenda planning document, i.e. the Environmental Protection Strategy of Serbia, until the end of 2024.
A year and a half later, assistant professor of the Faculty of Forestry, Aleksandar Anđelković from the "Move-Change" movement, warned that the European Union is still waiting for Serbia to adopt this document.
"The document that was supposed to be adopted last year and valid for the period from 2025 to 2033 is still sitting in a drawer, even though its draft has been completed. And its adoption is a condition for the continued financing of approved projects in the field of waste and wastewater management. So, without the Strategy, European investments stand still, and pollution in Serbia is growing," says Anđelković.
This problem will mostly be reflected, he explains, on waste and waste water, which are fields of ecology where unresolved issues remain. "Vreme" also wrote about some of them, after as of January 1, 2026, the state suspended incentives for waste. Some recycling companies have stopped accepting old tires, refrigerators and batteries because of this, according to newsroom sources. Many are scared for their continued survival, even though they are engaged in work of public interest, and citizens could face new pollution - because there will be no one to dispose of old boilers, tires and batteries.
Millions of euros could be withdrawn if Serbia does not fulfill what it promised in the field of ecology.
In August 2025, Serbia and the European Union signed an Agreement on financing the Multi-Year Operational Program for environmental and energy sectors worth 325,2 million euros, of which 240 million euros are grants from the IPA funds of the European Union.
"In this way, we ensured support for sustainable waste management, improvement of the infrastructure for waste water treatment and encouraging the implementation of energy efficiency measures in public buildings and households," said then State Secretary in the Ministry of European Integration Mira Radenović Bojić.
The program also includes air quality protection measures aimed at reducing harmful emissions and improving public health.
The total estimated costs for achieving the goals of the Environmental Protection Strategy in the period from 2024 to 2033 amount to 27,23 billion euros, according to the proposal of that document. Of that sum, investment costs amount to 27,04 billion euros.
The goals of the Green Agenda, a plan according to which Europe should become a "climate neutral" continent by 2050, and which Serbia also accepted with the Sofia Declaration four years ago, are integrated into the proposal of the new Environmental Protection Strategy.
The biggest additional investment costs are related to the energy sector, and it is assumed that this refers to a number of the biggest polluters in the country, such as old thermal power plants, which Serbia has refused to close for decades.
The leakage of half a million liters of oil near Sisak stopped the transport of Janaf, on which the supply of the Refinery in Pancevo depends. NIS has requested access to state reserves, and experts warn that a longer interruption could stop production at the Refinery
The import of fossil fuels has cost Serbia more than 57 billion dollars in the past two decades, with a high price for the environment and the health of citizens. The energy transition is expensive, but its delay seems to be even more expensive
Due to damage to the pipeline on the Adriatic pipeline, crude oil transport to Serbia has been suspended, and the Pancevo Refinery is adjusting the volume of processing. NIS also requested diesel from operational reserves
Citizens could face new price increases in the coming months, partly due to the consequences of last year's administrative restriction of prices and trade margins.
Davor Matsuri's assets have been frozen. What is owned by the owner of "Alta banka", as well as numerous other businesses
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Interview: Branko Stamenković, public prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office
A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
See all
