Serbia fulfilled conditions for EU, PM claims

Serbia’s Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic has said that Serbia has fulfilled all conditions necessary to get the EU candidate status. He added, however, that Serbia would not give up on its state policy. Serbia fulfilled conditions for EU, PM claims “Serbia has made a significant progress in fulfilling all conditions from the Euro-integration Action plan in the last few months and I don’t see a single reason why we would not get the EU candidate status,” he pointed out. The prime minister added that Serbia could not have any influence on whether the EU member states would set additional conditions in order to accept Serbia’s candidacy bid, but that he hoped that it would not happen. “I am a big optimist when it comes to the EU candidacy, but if there are new conditions we will not back down from our state policy and there are so-called ‘red lines’ that we will not cross,” Cvetkovic pointed out. He said that the Serbian government was receiving positive signals from the EU officials and that European Commission’s positive opinion regarding Serbia’s EU candidacy could be expected with great certainty. The prime minister said that other options in terms of a date for the beginning of the accession negotiations were possible, explaining that it was possible that the date would not be determined immediately but that a procedure would be outlined. Commenting on the situation in Kosovo, Cvetkovic said that the most important thing was to solve disputable issues peacefully and added that the Serbian government was ready to negotiate. “We cannot recognize unilateral moves in Kosovo, but we will stick to the dialogue in solving problems… And we believe that this is the only way to find a solution,” he stressed. The prime minister stated that Serbia “will never give up on its people in Kosovo” but that it also advised the people to express their dissatisfaction in a peaceful manner. “Serbia is strongly determined to prevent crime and corruption in Kosovo and it is ready to cooperate with the international community in the process. We have nothing against EULEX taking control over the customs checkpoints in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1244,” Cvetkovic noted. Commenting on a proposal to let the international community take over administration in northern Kosovo, the PM said that it “is a matter of process and agreement” and pointed out that the international missions had a mandate to rule the entire province. “Solving of the situation in Kosovo is an open process and we will respect everything we agree on,” Cvetkovic concluded. Mirko Cvetkovic (Tanjug, file)

Serbia fulfilled conditions for EU, PM claims

“Serbia has made a significant progress in fulfilling all conditions from the Euro-integration Action plan in the last few months and I don’t see a single reason why we would not get the EU candidate status,” he pointed out.

The prime minister added that Serbia could not have any influence on whether the EU member states would set additional conditions in order to accept Serbia’s candidacy bid, but that he hoped that it would not happen.

“I am a big optimist when it comes to the EU candidacy, but if there are new conditions we will not back down from our state policy and there are so-called ‘red lines’ that we will not cross,” Cvetković pointed out.

He said that the Serbian government was receiving positive signals from the EU officials and that European Commission’s positive opinion regarding Serbia’s EU candidacy could be expected with great certainty.

The prime minister said that other options in terms of a date for the beginning of the accession negotiations were possible, explaining that it was possible that the date would not be determined immediately but that a procedure would be outlined.

Commenting on the situation in Kosovo, Cvetković said that the most important thing was to solve disputable issues peacefully and added that the Serbian government was ready to negotiate.

“We cannot recognize unilateral moves in Kosovo, but we will stick to the dialogue in solving problems… And we believe that this is the only way to find a solution,” he stressed.

The prime minister stated that Serbia “will never give up on its people in Kosovo” but that it also advised the people to express their dissatisfaction in a peaceful manner.

“Serbia is strongly determined to prevent crime and corruption in Kosovo and it is ready to cooperate with the international community in the process. We have nothing against EULEX taking control over the customs checkpoints in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1244,” Cvetković noted.

Commenting on a proposal to let the international community take over administration in northern Kosovo, the PM said that it “is a matter of process and agreement” and pointed out that the international missions had a mandate to rule the entire province.

“Solving of the situation in Kosovo is an open process and we will respect everything we agree on,” Cvetković concluded.