Ambassadors on "ways to speed up Serbia's EU integration"

Ambassadors on "ways to speed up Serbia's EU integration"

"I think that Serbia is a great country, it has remarkable people, and maybe we should be less pessimistic," said German Ambassador in Belgrade Heinz Wilhelm commenting on the acceleration of Serbia's EU accession negotiations.

Wilhelm reiterated Germany's well-known stance that the chapters that should be opened first are: 35 - Kosovo, 23 - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and 24 - Justice, Freedom and Security.

"These chapters should be opened first and no other. Maybe some chapters can be opened simultaneously, but not before these three," the ambassador said during the Geopolitical Spillover into Economy panel.

The action plans for Chapters 23 and 24 are under way, but when it comes to Chapter 35, I think that the Serbian government has to be more proactive, said Wilhelm.

He believes that Serbia should now focus on implementing the agreement with Pristina, addressing the issues relating to the judiciary and establishing the association of Serb municipalities.

French Ambassador to Serbia Christine Moro noted that young people leave Serbia, but do not return, and underlined that this needs to be prevented by placing trust in the youth.

Moro underlined that the issue of regional cooperation is important for Serbia's EU integration process, and pointed to the past relations between France and Germany that finally led to the establishment of the European Union.

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport said that over the last year Serbia has made much progress, and therefore it enjoys a lot of support from the EU and the IMF, which is proved by the recently concluded arrangement.

However, Serbia on the EU pathway still needs to work on the rule of law, economic governance and cooperation with Pristina, said Davenport.

You have to create conditions so that the entire society could contribute to the economic development, he said.

Davenport also pointed to the importance of the application of the standards of Chapter 23 and 24 relating to the rule of law and regional cooperation.

He said that the decision by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to attend the inauguration of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic was a very positive signal, and commended on Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's visit to Serbia, stressing that this is progress in the dialogue with Albania.

Italian Ambassador to Serbia Giuseppe Manzo pointed out that education is the key area for Serbia's EU pathway.

You cannot have entrepreneurs in a few years without changes in the field of education. Work ethic needs to be altered, and this is possible only through education, said Manzo.

Head of Serbia's negotiating team Tanja Miscevic pointed out that when it comes to Serbia's EU accession negotiations, we should take into account the state of affairs within the EU, as well as other geopolitical influences.

She noted that last year after the elections, a new structure of the European Parliament was created, while another very important movement was the creation and election of the new European Commission and the new Commissioner, who is now not only dealing with the enlargement policy, but also Eastern policy, or much more precisely defined neighboring policy of the EU.

Therefore, the European Union is in a very deep debate and discussion about its own development regarding the economic and financial crisis and answers to the right-wing political attitudes within the EU that have been existing for some time now, she said.

"We should not forget the well-known enlargement fatigue which also creates enough problems for the EU to fight with, along with the additional issues of Ukraine, Russia, the Islamic State and the fight against terrorism," Miscevic underlined.