FM: Serbia never closer to getting EU date

Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkić has stated that the country "has never been closer to getting a date for the start of EU accession talks".

Izvor: Tanjug

Tuesday, 12.03.2013.

11:17

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BELGRADE Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic has stated that the country "has never been closer to getting a date for the start of EU accession talks". In talks with foreign officials. Mrkic told Belgrade's Vecernje Novosti daily, "no one explicitly said that an agreement on Serb municipalities in Kosovo is the key precondition for that". FM: Serbia never closer to getting EU date "Everyone insists that there will be no new conditions. I am confident that no one can say that we do not fulfill our promises. On the contrary, the international community has recognized our good will and policy of cooperation we demonstrate every day," Mrkic said. "I am not here to measure whether the progress is sufficient for making a positive decision on the date, but I can say that it is quite visible and that everyone has welcomed it," the minister stated, and added that our chances for obtaining the date are much greater than seven months ago. Asked to what extent Serbia is ready to make concession when it comes to the request for setting up the association of Serb municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija, the foreign minister said it is important for the association to get serious powers. "I can say that this is a minimum below which we will not go," he pointed out. Speaking about the national leadership's strategy for the coming period, which will be crucial for the decision of the European Council, Mrkic said that "in the coming months we will have a battle in which we will prove that we have made significant progress in meeting the existing requirements - the fight against corruption and crime, judicial reform and resolving the issue of Kosovo and Metohija." The minister also said it is too early to predict what decision Brussels will make in June when it comes to the start of pre-accession negotiations between Serbia and the EU. Asked if it is possible for Lithuania, which still has not ratified the Stabilization and Association Agreement Serbia and the EU signed in the spring of 2008, and which will take over the presidency over the EU as of July 1, to slow down the country's EU integration in any way, Mrkic said that his assistant Ljubica Vasic brought good news from her visit to Vilnius - that Lithuania supports Serbia in its EU integrati Ivan Mrkic (Beta/AP, file) Tanjug Vecernje novosti

FM: Serbia never closer to getting EU date

"Everyone insists that there will be no new conditions. I am confident that no one can say that we do not fulfill our promises. On the contrary, the international community has recognized our good will and policy of cooperation we demonstrate every day," Mrkić said.

"I am not here to measure whether the progress is sufficient for making a positive decision on the date, but I can say that it is quite visible and that everyone has welcomed it," the minister stated, and added that our chances for obtaining the date are much greater than seven months ago.

Asked to what extent Serbia is ready to make concession when it comes to the request for setting up the association of Serb municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija, the foreign minister said it is important for the association to get serious powers.

"I can say that this is a minimum below which we will not go," he pointed out.

Speaking about the national leadership's strategy for the coming period, which will be crucial for the decision of the European Council, Mrkić said that "in the coming months we will have a battle in which we will prove that we have made significant progress in meeting the existing requirements - the fight against corruption and crime, judicial reform and resolving the issue of Kosovo and Metohija."

The minister also said it is too early to predict what decision Brussels will make in June when it comes to the start of pre-accession negotiations between Serbia and the EU.

Asked if it is possible for Lithuania, which still has not ratified the Stabilization and Association Agreement Serbia and the EU signed in the spring of 2008, and which will take over the presidency over the EU as of July 1, to slow down the country's EU integration in any way, Mrkić said that his assistant Ljubica Vasić brought good news from her visit to Vilnius - that Lithuania supports Serbia in its EU integrati

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