The United States Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, said on December 13 that “Serbs need to understand that their fate is in their hands, not in Washington, Brussels, and Beijing”.

In the opening of the “World in 2024” conference in Belgrade, he emphasized that the year 2024 will be “complex”, and its outcome “will depend on many factors”.

“Next year will be very, very important for all those who want to see further enlargement of the European Union and Serbia into another country,” Hill said.

He added that he is “watching good will” in Brussels.

Serbia became a candidate for EU membership in March 2012. It still holds that status today, and accession negotiations officially opened in January 2014.

The EU regularly warns that the speed of Serbia’s accession process depends on progress in the dialogue for the normalization of relations with Kosovo, facilitated by the European Union in Brussels.

Hill also said that “there is a possibility that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina will progress in the coming months”, and in this sense, he believes that “next year will be crucial for Serbia”.

On February 27, 2023, Serbia and Kosovo reached an agreement on the path to normalize relations.

For the Implementation Annex of this agreement, the parties agreed in Ohrid on March 18.

Pristina and Belgrade did not sign the agreement or its Implementation Annex because Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić refused to sign.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, which Serbia does not recognize.