German MP said five years ago what is expected of Serbia

German MP said five years ago what is expected of Serbia

At that time, members of the ruling German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) presented the conditions Berlin would insist on when it comes to Serbia's progress on the road to the EU, and this entered the EU negotiating framework for Serbia, adopted in January 2014 ahead of the formal start of negotiations on membership.

During a visit to Belgrade on September 13, 2012, CDU MP Andreas Schockenhoff cited a legally binding agreement on normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina as one of the seven conditions that the Bundestag parliamentary group would insist, with the intention of making them the official German position.

Schockenhoff said at the time that he would insist that the Belgrade-Pristina agreement to be in writing and that by the end of the EU accession process all details of that agreement be fully implemented.

This close associate of Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the demands he presented at a press conference were not new and that his interlocutors in Belgrade were not surprised.

He at the time talked to the then Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic and Serbian Parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic.

A legally binding document on normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina entered the EU negotiating framework for Serbia, which was adopted on January 9, 2014, and presented at the first intergovernmental conference on January 21, when Serbia officially started negotiations with the EU.

It is stated there that "the process of normalization of relations with Kosovo will be of particular importance for Serbia".

"This process will ensure that both parties can continue their European path, avoiding blocking each other in these efforts, and gradually, by the end of the accession negotiations with Serbia, will lead to a comprehensive normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, in the form of a legally binding agreement with the intention of both parties being able to fully exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations," Article 12 states.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said yesterday that Serbia will not be able to become a member of the EU without a legally binding document with Kosovo.