Serbia: Balancing EU Candidacy and a Sale to Gazprom

Two international agreements ratified by the Serbian parliament Sept. 9 highlight the balancing act Serbia must perform as it seeks to join the European Union and maintain a special relationship with Russia. The key deal ratified — selling a controlling stake in Serbia's state-owned oil company to Russia's Gazprom — calls for a renegotiated price by the end of the year. The new price could be three times the original, which would indicate the willingness of Serbia's pro-EU government to drive a hard bargain with Moscow.