The president of Serbia Alexander Vucic said today that his country is unlikely to join the EU in 2028, a date that other western Balkan countries have set as a target for membership.

“I don’t think we will be part of the EU in 2028. (EU membership) is not going to happen, I am not lying to my people,” Vucic told a panel at the GLOBSEC security conference in Prague.

“And I believe that if some of us join the EUthat can’t happen before 2030, but that’s just my estimate. What will happen in the meantime no one knows,” said Vucic.

His comments came two days after the landmark deal to buy 12 Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation was signed, removing the Serbia from its defense cooperation with Moscow.

In order to join the EU, Serbia will have to improve its democratic profile, rule of law, judicial system, economy and fight corruption and organized crime.

Serbia is trying to balance its EU membership ambitions with its ties to Russia, on which it depends for gas and which backed Belgrade in its opposition to Kosovo’s independence in 2008.

Serbia has repeatedly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supplies Kiev with ammunition, but Belgrade will in any case have to harmonize its foreign policy with that of the EU, including the imposition of sanctions against Moscow, if it wants to join the bloc.