Serbia is the Western Balkan’s only EU membership candidate that has not joined the bloc’s new restrictive measures against Iran.
On top of the UN sanctions in place since 2006, the EU has also adopted its own sanctions, which target trade in some goods, the financial sector, and travel restrictions against certain listed persons and entities.
On 27 June, the Council adopted a decision on implementing regulation on restrictive measures against Iran, which were joined by Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed on Wednesday (13 July).
However, Serbia, also an EU accession country, decided not to join the sanctions decision.
On 11 July, Serbian and Iranian Business People met in Belgrade at a business forum held at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
The economies of Serbia and Iran can cooperate successfully and raise their economic relations to a much higher level in nearly all areas, from the food industry through energy, tourism and healthcare to telecommunications and state-of-the-art technologies, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce said in a release.
The forum gathered more than 80 Serbian and Iranian businesspeople and representatives of business associations and governments of the two states.
Serbia is also set to appoint a co-chairperson of the Mixed Committee on Economic Cooperation Between Serbia and Iran, once the new Serbian government is appointed, a recent announcement confirmed.
Serbian foreign trade with Iran amounted to $50.8 million in 2021, up 115.2% compared to 2020.
Iran is number two in the world regarding natural gas reserves and among the top four with in terms of oil reserves. Oil and its derivatives account for about 80% of exports.
