The Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, stressed the importance of continuing the reforms during their meetings in Brussels on Friday 26 June with the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić.
They emphasised the Rule of law and the fight against corruption.
While Mr Vučić’s party won by a large margin in the parliamentary elections of 21 June (see EUROPE 12512/20), Mr Michel recalled, according to a EU Council communiqué, that “the electoral victory was also accompanied by the responsibility to undertake the necessary reforms and move Serbia forward on the road to EU membership”.
For her part, according to Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero, Mrs von der Leyen encouraged the Serbian leader to pursue a genuine dialogue with political parties in order to make progress on EU-related reforms, stressing the need for a broad consensus. The President of the Commission also called for the shortcomings identified during the elections to be addressed as a matter of priority.
The Presidents of the Commission and the European Council also underlined their support for the resumption of the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. It should resume in July.
The Covid-19 pandemic was also discussed by the Presidents. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)