The Serbian National Assembly on Monday passed with 132 votes in favor and 13 against a set of amendments to the Law on Agricultural Land.
Beta is reporting that the law allows EU citizens to buy arable land in Serbia, but prevents full liberalization of this market, that would have happened on September 1, when provisions of Serbia-EU Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) come into force, that would have equalized the right of Serbian citizens and those from the EU.
Foreigners from EU countries will now be able to buy up two hectares of arable land in Serbia – if they meet legal requirements, which include at least ten years of residence in Serbia – in the unit of self government where the land is located.
They must also have cultivated the land for at least three years, have an agricultural household registered to their name, and own agricultural equipment necessary to cultivate the land.
The amended law prevents foreigners from EU countries from buying agricultural land in the 10-kilometer zone next to the country’s borders.
The amendments will go into force the day after they have been published in the Official Gazette, and the law will go into force on September 1, Beta reported, and added that “the opposition warned that the amendments were meaningless, deceiving the public and ‘betraying’ Serbian national interests, as they made it possible for foreigners to buy agrarian land.”
