Serbia will join EU "when it's ready" - EP official

Serbia will join EU "when it's ready" - EP official

"Serbia has made substantial progress in chapter 35. Now the time has come for the first chapters to be opened and this is a good message and a good signal for the whole of Serbia," McAllister told Tanjug.

We have seen good progress being made in certain areas, said McAllister, who spoke positively about Serbia's economic reforms, progress in the dialogue with Pristina and contribution to regional cooperation in a recent report.

McAllister, however, pointed to the need of making further progress in the rule of law, judiciary and called for more efforts to fight against organized crime and corruption.

When it comes to human rights, he said that Serbia has a good legal and institutional framework for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and that it must now be fully applied.

He stressed that media freedom is a constitutive element of democracy.

Asked whether chapter 35 will remain open until the end of the negotiations and whether the opening of other chapters will be conditional on the progress made in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, McAllister said:

"Chapter 35 is very important for Serbia, because it concerns the very sensitive issue of relations with Kosovo. Now chapters 35 and 32 will be opened and closed when all issues are resolved. Next year chapters 23 and 24 should be opened. But chapters can be closed only if all outstanding issues are resolved. When it comes to chapter 35 it will probably be closed at the end of the negotiations."

Asked whether Pristina can slow down Serbia's progress towards the EU by refusing to implement the Brussels agreement, the EP rapporteur said that the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is crucial and that it is important to, step by step, arrive to normalization of relations, while "both sides can contribute, both sides need to contribute, but, at the same time, they must not block each other and hamper progress in the negotiations with the EU."

Asked to comment on the EU's readiness for further enlargement, bearing in mind the statement by EC President Jean-Claude Juncker at the beginning of his mandate that there would be no new members admitted during his Commission, McAllister said Serbia would join the EU "when it's ready."

He added that chapters will open when Serbia is ready, and closed when it does its homework. "But it is obvious that this will happen if Serbia is ready," he said.