By scrutinizing the effectiveness of EU human rights conditionality through the case of freedom of expression and media freedom in Serbia, the present study argues that Serbia has pursued the strategy of introducing some reforms that fall short of implementation. While the inconsistency of the EU's conditionality policy partially explains Serbia's under‐performance, Serbian authorities also lacked the incentives for compliance. As Serbia was willing to compromise on its perceived national interests concerning international war crimes prosecution and Kosovo, both highly significant issues for its national identity, the real threat now as perceived by the authorities is well functioning independent institutions and free media that can put constraints on their power. Considering that the EU assigned a key role to human rights in its conditionality policy, the Serbian case demonstrates how geopolitics can interfere to limit the EU's capacity to achieve compliance even from a candidate country.