Brussels, 19/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Serbian Ambassador to the EU Roksanda Nincic granted EUROPE an interview (reporter CG).
Agence Europe (AE): Could you present your country in only 3 sentences?
Roksanda Nincic (RN): Serbia is a South-Eastern European country. It is in the central part of the Balkans region. It has, after a turbulent history, made a firm commitment to adopt European standards and values and to join the European Union.
(AE): Could you remind us where Serbia is in the accession process to the EU?
(RN): Serbia applied for membership of the EU at the end of 2009. At the beginning of March 2012, it obtained candidate status and the next step, which we hope will not take too long to achieve, would be the opening of accession negotiations. We don't have a date for opening negotiations. The Council of the EU has defined a couple of criteria that are related to the Kosovo issue that Serbia needs to fulfil for opening accession negotiations. The European Commission is asked to report on the fulfilment of these criteria. We hope that the Commission will give a positive opinion in its regular progress report in October this year, and that a decision of the Council on the date for the opening of the negotiations will follow soon.
(AE): What can Serbia bring to the EU?
(RN): I think not a small contribution. South-Eastern Europe, the Balkan countries are in fact the missing link for a stable and democratic European union to be complete. Having in mind that this has been a volatile region, both in its older history and more recent history, we honestly believe that putting in practice a model that was born in Europe after World War II with the primary goal of preventing any further conflict or destabilisation would be a significant contribution, primarily to the region itself and the people living there, but also for the EU as a whole. In order to achieve a stable and prosperous future for all the Balkans, we are ready and able to work with all our partners.
(AE): The EU is in crisis - some people say it's a sinking ship. Why does Serbia want to come on board?
(RN): We don't think that the European Union has sunk. Maybe it is in a crisis, but in fact this is not specifically and only a crisis in the EU. We don't think that this crisis proves that the EU is a failed project. We believe that it will overcome this crisis.
We can strive for internal reform, we can work to adopt values we think are true and the best that exist in the world today, without being a part of the EU, but the motivation is much stronger when you have this kind of a formal track, the integration process. There is enormous assistance, which we appreciate very much, primarily from the European Commission and also from member states.
(AE): Croatia needed more than ten years to join the EU. Are you afraid of that?
(RN): We have no illusion that one can jump into the EU. There is a wide realisation in our country, both among political establishment and among citizens, that this is a long process, there are 35 negotiation chapters, there is an enormous work to be done and we are ready to work and negotiate to get there. Our opinion polls show that there is a wide belief that this is our best road to long-term stability and the prospect of prosperity.
(AE): How are your relationships with the member states?
(RN): We have relations and cooperate with all member states of the EU, as well as the European institutions here, both bilateral and in the framework of the European Union.
(AE): At the General Affairs Council which issued an opinion on Serbia's candidate status, Romania had reservations. How are your relations with Romania?
(RN): That was a specific issue (Ed: concerning Romanian minorities in Serbia) that surfaced in our relations with Romania just before the decision on the candidate status. Romania is a friendly neighbour country. Our relations with Romania are very good, both in historic and current times, and we want it to continue this way. Our first foreign policy goal is to have good neighbourly relations. However, sometimes there are issues that pop up between countries, between neighbours, between friendly countries. This is not something unique or unusual, problems come up, we resolve them and we go on. This is nothing highly dramatic.
(AE): Is it easier to talk with the 5 European countries which have not recognised the independence of Kosovo? Do you have special links with them because they don't recognise Kosovo?
(RN): We appreciate the fact they did not recognise the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo, but in the EU accession process we cooperate with all the European member states. We have to and we want to.
(AE): Do the other countries or the Commission ask you to recognise it?
(RN): No, they don't ask us to recognise the independence of Kosovo.
(AE): What about the dialogue with Kosovo? How is the situation in North Kosovo for Serbian people? How do things stand on the implementation of the dialogue agreements?
(RN): The Serbian population is the majority in the north of Kosovo and they don't have an easy time. In fact, our compatriots in enclaves in the south of Kosovo don't have a very easy time either because of fears for their basic security and because of harassment by the Pristina authorities. It is practically impossible for a Serb in Kosovo to get a job. There are major problems which we are doing our best to resolve peacefully and patiently in cooperation with the EU, the international community and with the representatives of the Kosovo Albanian population.
Part of this work is the dialogue which took place with Pristina last year, where nine rounds of dialogue have been held, facilitated by the EU, seven agreements have been reached, and there have been, I think, 12 meetings of implementation groups. The problems that exist are often very old and therefore it takes a sustained effort not only to reach solutions, but also to see that they are implemented. This is a process to which we are committed because we don't see any other way to defuse tensions in our relations with Pristina except in this peaceable and peaceful fashion of talks on the many issues that are a problem and, step by step, reach a solution that would enable a stable political set-up. These things are not done by magic. It takes time, patience and sustained political effort on all sides. On our side, we are ready to offer options.
(AE): How are your relations with your neighbourhood?
(RN): Good. Good neighbourly relations are our top foreign policy priority. We have a policy of good neighbourly relations with all south-eastern countries on a bilateral level, as well as cooperating with them in a regional context. So regional stability is something that we put a maximum of political energy into and we will continue to do so.
(AE) In a report, the European Parliament said Serbia has to improve minority rights, and tackle organised crime and corruption. What are you doing on this?
(RN): With regard to the fight against organised crime and corruption, and particularly organised crime, we have invested an enormous amount of energy during the last couple of years. In cooperation with international agencies, we have cut off several drug smuggling routes that passed through the Balkans. Drug trafficking is the most serious kind of organised crime in the region.
When we talk about the fight against corruption, it absolutely needs a sustained effort, not only in Serbia, but in most of the countries of the region. Eradication of corruption is something that is nationally recognised as a priority. This is also a task which is not easily done. This problem has to be solved because actually you cannot really hope for economy prosperity if you have high levels of corruption. So there is absolutely no doubt that we will invest maximum effort in eliminating this problem from our reality.
Where the minorities are concerned, I must emphasise that last year's Commission report gave a positive assessment of the minority rights in Serbia. We have adopted all international conventions that regulate this matter, and we have directly elected minority councils in Serbia which means that members of all minorities directly elect their own national councils. It is an issue that we take with upmost seriousness.