Brussels, 05/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - Further to his meeting with the European enlargement commissioner, Vuk Jeremic on Thursday 5 November reaffirmed the firm intention of the Serbian government to "progress towards membership" of the EU. The Serbian foreign minister said that 1 January 2010, a date pencilled in for the removal of the visa obligation on Serbian citizens visiting the EU, will be "a symbolic date" for Serbia. The Commission's recent progress report "only encourages us to do more and to do better", he added, going on to state that Serbia intends to play a stabilising role in the Balkans. He concluded: "We do believe in the European future of Serbia, we do believe in the European future of the whole of the Balkans". Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed the fact that the "European spirit is gaining hearts and minds in Serbian society". Whilst fully respecting Serbia's sovereign right to present its application for membership before the end of the year, as the government is planning to do, he pointed out that full observation of the Copenhagen criteria (of December 2006) and the effective implementation of the interim agreement constitute preconditions to any accession process. The EU is also waiting for the opinion of the public prosecutor of ICTY, Serge Brammertz, on the full cooperation of the Serbian authorities with the International Criminal Tribunal. (O.J./transl.fl)