“Status great, but not epochal achievement”

Serbian President Boris Tadic said Friday that the candidate status was a great but not an epochal achievement which confirmed Serbia was on the right track. "It will be epochal when Serbia becomes a member of the European society," he said. “Status great, but not epochal achievement” “We are witnessing a dilemma whether this is an epochal achievement. It is great but not epochal. It will be epochal once we cross the magic line and Serbia becomes a member of the EU society and once it can use all the funds,” he told in his address to the public. “This is a great achievement for the Serbian citizens but we will have to do more work from now on in order to get a date for the negotiations and complete them and to become an EU member,” the president pointed out. “There is no dilemma that the candidate status is important from the foreign investments’ point of view. That’s a fundamental, central issue of improvement of our entire economy. Serbia today does not have means for modernization and development of the economy at its disposal and it could be changed now,” Tadic stressed. He added that the decision to grant Serbia the EU candidate status was a clear sign that the country was on the right track. “Significant reforms have been done in many areas, in the implementation of rights and independent judiciary, the economic environment has been improved and a high level, the highest so far in Serbia, has been reached regarding human rights and freedoms. We could only dream of such achievements ten years ago,” the president said and added that progress had been made despite all financial difficulties that Serbia and the entire world were facing. “I once again want to congratulate everyone. This is an achievement of the people in Serbia. Serbian citizens carried the weight of the hard reform process on their shoulders, they endured everything and paid the price but the candidate status is now an indicator of better days. Still, in order to have them we have to work with a clear awareness of our goals. The EU membership is a formal goal but the essence is changes in our society, the rule of law, the essence is that Serbia should become an efficient society in the administrative sense as well,” the Serbian president pointed out. He noted that establishment of a functional and modern society awaited Serbia. “I congratulate the citizens on this great day and I believe that there will be more great days ahead,” he said and added that the future government’s goal would be obtaining of a date for the beginning of the accession talks. He repeated that some countries had completed the process relatively quickly while some had been negotiating for years. When asked whether Serbia’s further EU pathway would be conditioned by Kosovo, Tadic said the country’s position on Kosovo’s independence was crystal clear. “I don’t expect some EU member states to try to set this is a condition because there are EU states that have not and will not recognize Kosovo,” the president stressed, adding that there were many countries that had similar problems as Serbia when it came to Kosovo. He said that a condition for the beginning of the accession negotiations was continuation of the dialogue with Pristina, primarily regarding telecommunications and allowing EULEX and KFOR to perform their duties but that Serbia would continue to defend its national interest. “Another precondition is to continue to build trust in the EU member states and we have made a lot of progress lately,” Tadic stressed, adding that it was easier to solve issues in the atmosphere of trust. When asked about concrete benefits that Serbia would get after obtaining the EU candidate status, he said that Serbia had a special status now. “The benefit is the fact that our country now has a special status in the EU and all countries see us as a country that will become a member. Majority of the countries believe that we will become a member and that it is just a matter of time,” the Serbian president said. “Today we are becoming a country that has a right to the EU flag and we have a right to take part in European forums. I will not open the topic of accession funds but there is no dilemma that the concrete benefit is in large potential investors,” he explained. Boris Tadic B92

“Status great, but not epochal achievement”

“We are witnessing a dilemma whether this is an epochal achievement. It is great but not epochal. It will be epochal once we cross the magic line and Serbia becomes a member of the EU society and once it can use all the funds,” he told in his address to the public.

“This is a great achievement for the Serbian citizens but we will have to do more work from now on in order to get a date for the negotiations and complete them and to become an EU member,” the president pointed out.

“There is no dilemma that the candidate status is important from the foreign investments’ point of view. That’s a fundamental, central issue of improvement of our entire economy. Serbia today does not have means for modernization and development of the economy at its disposal and it could be changed now,” Tadić stressed.

He added that the decision to grant Serbia the EU candidate status was a clear sign that the country was on the right track.

“Significant reforms have been done in many areas, in the implementation of rights and independent judiciary, the economic environment has been improved and a high level, the highest so far in Serbia, has been reached regarding human rights and freedoms. We could only dream of such achievements ten years ago,” the president said and added that progress had been made despite all financial difficulties that Serbia and the entire world were facing.

“I once again want to congratulate everyone. This is an achievement of the people in Serbia. Serbian citizens carried the weight of the hard reform process on their shoulders, they endured everything and paid the price but the candidate status is now an indicator of better days. Still, in order to have them we have to work with a clear awareness of our goals. The EU membership is a formal goal but the essence is changes in our society, the rule of law, the essence is that Serbia should become an efficient society in the administrative sense as well,” the Serbian president pointed out.

He noted that establishment of a functional and modern society awaited Serbia.

“I congratulate the citizens on this great day and I believe that there will be more great days ahead,” he said and added that the future government’s goal would be obtaining of a date for the beginning of the accession talks.

He repeated that some countries had completed the process relatively quickly while some had been negotiating for years.

When asked whether Serbia’s further EU pathway would be conditioned by Kosovo, Tadić said the country’s position on Kosovo’s independence was crystal clear.

“I don’t expect some EU member states to try to set this is a condition because there are EU states that have not and will not recognize Kosovo,” the president stressed, adding that there were many countries that had similar problems as Serbia when it came to Kosovo.

He said that a condition for the beginning of the accession negotiations was continuation of the dialogue with Priština, primarily regarding telecommunications and allowing EULEX and KFOR to perform their duties but that Serbia would continue to defend its national interest.

“Another precondition is to continue to build trust in the EU member states and we have made a lot of progress lately,” Tadić stressed, adding that it was easier to solve issues in the atmosphere of trust.

When asked about concrete benefits that Serbia would get after obtaining the EU candidate status, he said that Serbia had a special status now.

“The benefit is the fact that our country now has a special status in the EU and all countries see us as a country that will become a member. Majority of the countries believe that we will become a member and that it is just a matter of time,” the Serbian president said.

“Today we are becoming a country that has a right to the EU flag and we have a right to take part in European forums. I will not open the topic of accession funds but there is no dilemma that the concrete benefit is in large potential investors,” he explained.