Serbia inside the UN and CEFTA, and outside NATO and the European Union

Country Focus Background Polity & Governance

Serbia inside the UN and CEFTA, and outside NATO and the European Union

Background

The United Nations lists Serbia among its Member States with a date of admission of 01-11-2000. The UN's own account of the growth in its membership records that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was added in 2000, and that it was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, an original member which was removed from the official roster of UN members in 2000 following its dissolution. Serbia is a party to the Central European Free Trade Agreement: the enlarged and modern CEFTA was signed in December 2006, its signatories including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, and Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia have withdrawn from CEFTA on their accession to the EU. NATO's own member-countries page states that at present, NATO has 32 member countries, and its alphabetical list of Allies does not include Serbia. The European Commission's enlargement page gives Serbia's membership status as candidate country, which is not the same as being a member state of the European Union.

Serbia's date of admission to the United Nations: Date of Admission: 01-11-2000 Signing of the enlarged CEFTA: signed in December 2006 by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia CEFTA parties that left on joining the EU: Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia have withdrawn from CEFTA on their accession to the EU Size of NATO, which does not include Serbia: At present, NATO has 32 member countries Serbia's standing with the European Union: Membership status: candidate country

Why it matters for exams: Examiners prefer the negative form of membership questions, because knowing that a country is not in NATO or the European Union is harder to guess than knowing that it is in the UN.

Kerala PSCUPSCSSC

3 October 2026 Source: United Nations

In plain words

CEFTA Central European Free Trade Agreement — A regional free-trade arrangement whose parties leave it when they join the European Union.

Candidate country EU enlargement status — A state whose application to join the European Union has been accepted for negotiation but which is not yet a member.