“No indication of postponement of candidate decision"

Serbian Deputy PM Bozidar Djelic has said there are no indications that the EU Council of Ministers could postpone its decision on Serbia’s EU candidate status. He told daily Blic that a number of countries believed that the European Commission (EC) recommendation and opinion were important but that they were not the only criteria based on which the Council would vote on Serbia’s EU candidate status on December 9. “No indication of postponement of candidate decision" “Germany will form its position on its own for December 9. Both I and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic will have more meetings with German and French officials ahead of the decision on December 9,” Djelic was quoted as saying. He stated that Serbia would enter the EU “through two gates” due to stratification of Europe which was caused by the economic crisis. The deputy prime minister explained that the first gate represents full-fledged membership in the EU, which includes a certain level of obligations and privileges such as participation in the common market. “The second gate is made of about 20 member states that will share the currency and have closely coordinated budget and social policy. We would be able to pass the second gate in the next decade,” Djelic pointed out. He believes that the second wave of the crisis in Europe will cause extremely painful changes but that it would not imply its end. According to him, the stratification is not necessarily between the old and new EU member states but between those that are prepared to have a stronger unification and a higher level of stronger ties. “Some new EU member states such as Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia will enter the ‘hard-line’ circle,” the deputy PM said, adding that as far as Serbia was concerned the entrance to the second level would be much more demanding and there would be many conditions. However, daily Politika has learned from diplomatic sources in Brussels that there are more options on the table. According to the daily, France has requested Germany to accept the decision to grant Montenegro only a date for the beginning of the EU accession negotiations. Berlin in return wants Paris and others to support their hard-line policy regarding conditions for Serbia. According to a source from the Serbian government, “timing for making of such decision is bad” because the European Union has internal issues due to situation in Greece and Italy and upcoming elections in France and several other EU member states. “On the other hand, the Germans still stand by the position that Chancellor Angela Merkel presented in Belgrade last summer,” the source stressed and added that it could be interpreted in various ways since the European Commission’s report voiced somewhat milder position. Bozidar Djelic (Tanjug, file)

“No indication of postponement of candidate decision"

“Germany will form its position on its own for December 9. Both I and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić will have more meetings with German and French officials ahead of the decision on December 9,” Đelić was quoted as saying.

He stated that Serbia would enter the EU “through two gates” due to stratification of Europe which was caused by the economic crisis.

The deputy prime minister explained that the first gate represents full-fledged membership in the EU, which includes a certain level of obligations and privileges such as participation in the common market.

“The second gate is made of about 20 member states that will share the currency and have closely coordinated budget and social policy. We would be able to pass the second gate in the next decade,” Đelić pointed out.

He believes that the second wave of the crisis in Europe will cause extremely painful changes but that it would not imply its end.

According to him, the stratification is not necessarily between the old and new EU member states but between those that are prepared to have a stronger unification and a higher level of stronger ties.

“Some new EU member states such as Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia will enter the ‘hard-line’ circle,” the deputy PM said, adding that as far as Serbia was concerned the entrance to the second level would be much more demanding and there would be many conditions.

However, daily Politika has learned from diplomatic sources in Brussels that there are more options on the table. According to the daily, France has requested Germany to accept the decision to grant Montenegro only a date for the beginning of the EU accession negotiations. Berlin in return wants Paris and others to support their hard-line policy regarding conditions for Serbia.

According to a source from the Serbian government, “timing for making of such decision is bad” because the European Union has internal issues due to situation in Greece and Italy and upcoming elections in France and several other EU member states.

“On the other hand, the Germans still stand by the position that Chancellor Angela Merkel presented in Belgrade last summer,” the source stressed and added that it could be interpreted in various ways since the European Commission’s report voiced somewhat milder position.