"Germany wants Serbia to open three new chapters"

"Germany wants Serbia to open three new chapters"

"It must be said honestly the EU is at a stage in which it is faced by challenges and internal reforms, but, at the same time, there is no deviation from pledges related to European prospects," Dittmann said at the 4th Belgrade Dialogues, adding that the EU would "emerge stronger from the crisis."

"No new conditions have been set for Serbia to open the three new chapters," Dittmann said.

"We want to support Serbia further on its EU path, which is also in Germany's interest because we want to encourage regional stability - we are already cooperating with Serbia as if it were an EU member state, e.g. in the case of the refugee crisis," he said.

The fate of the EU, the impact of the rise of nationalism and populism on the European idea and enlargement as the member and candidate countries' potential answer to the crisis are topics discussed by participants of the 4th Belgrade Dialogues.

The initiative, aimed at strengthening Serbia's commitment to continuing on the path to EU membership and at helping build further the capacities required for in-depth reforms, will bring together numerous experts and prominent political and civil society figures on December 8-9.

The 4th Belgrade Dialogues are organized by the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence and the Serbia-Germany Forum in collaboration with the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies, with support from the Balkan Trust for Democracy and the Council of Europe.