Brussels, 30/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Suzana Grubjesic, said during her first official visit to Brussels on Thursday 30 August that the new Serbian government “is fully committed not only to continuing the European process but to accelerating it”. “Our biggest priority is to obtain a date for starting the negotiations”, she added.
For his part, European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle said that the EU is expecting Serbia to continue its European integration route. “I am encouraged to see this objective at the heart of the programme of the new Serbian government”, he said, adding that the date for opening negotiations would be decided when Serbia fulfils its commitments.
EU concerned about independence of central bank. The commissioner thus recalled the commitments that Serbia must respect, saying that few steps forward have been taken recently due to the elections. He explained that the recent review of the law on the central bank limits its independence, adding that he expects candidate countries to get closer to the EU acquis, not further away from it. “The amendments to the law go against the alignment (of the country) to the acquis communautaire”, he said, hoping that “after reflection, the Serbian authorities will take measures to conform the law, legislation and the institution itself to the goal that they intend to reach”, in other words EU accession. The commissioner also reminded Belgrade that it should be more effective in its fight against corruption and organised crime.
EU stresses relations with Kosovo. Füle said that the top priority was good neighbourhood relations. Serbia needs to continue to work towards “achieving a visible and sustainable improvement of its relations with Kosovo. This is key to the opening of accession negotiations”, he said, adding that it is not only necessary to sign agreements with Kosovo but also to apply them, and that the application of the agreements “can allow us to move ahead (towards integration)”. Grubjesic said her government is ready to implement all the agreements reached in the dialogue with Pristina, to bring to an end the technical dialogue on entering negotiations on telecommunications and energy, and to engage in political dialogue at the highest level “for a fair and lasting solution for peace in this region in the grip of turbulence”.
Dacic-Ashton meeting next week. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic will be in Brussels next Tuesday to meet Stefan Füle and also High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. They are due to discuss the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. (CG/transl.fl)