Brussels, 09/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Serbia, which lodged its application for accession in December 2009, expects that, in 2011 the EU will grant it applicant country status and indicate a date for the opening of accession talks, said Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkoviæ following a meeting with Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle in Brussels on 9 December. The Commission is currently preparing its “opinion” on the Serbian application. To this end, Füle recently sent the Serbian authorities the traditional “questionnaire” to gather the necessary information on the legislative situation in Serbia. Belgrade plans to respond to all the questions by 31 January 2011, Cvetkoviæ told press. He and Füle also discussed the action plan adopted by the Serbian government to prepare for accession. “We agreed on the priorities” of the action plan, Füle commented. Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) “remains an absolute priority”, the commissioner said.
Nobel Peace Prize. Füle was also critical of the Serbian decision not to be represented at the ceremony at which Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo will be awarded in Oslo on Friday 10 December. “The EU regrets the decision of Serbia not to attend the ceremony. The respect of human rights is a founding principle of the EU. EU member states have agreed to attend the event on ambassador level. As an applicant country, Serbia is expected to embrace European values and to coordinate with the EU on such steps,” the commissioner said. (H.B./transl.rt)