President: Serbia will get EU talks date in 2013

BELGRADE Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has stated that Serbia is committed to fulfillment of EU recommendations. He added that he expected the country to get a date for the beginning of the EU accession negotiations in 2013. President: Serbia will get EU talks date in 2013 “We have intensified our contacts in the sense of getting a date for the beginning of the negotiations and we have support, especially in countries of the region that gladly point to the mistakes they made in the process,” he told daily Press. “Therefore, Serbia is working on fulfilling the EU recommendations and we expect to get a clear signal that our efforts will be rewarded next year,” Nikolic said. He pointed out that one of his priorities was a foreign political activity aimed at attracting foreign investments and improving Serbia’s image in the world. “Serbia is a very interesting destination for investments, it has a favorable geographical origin and represents a bride between the East and the West,” the president was quoted as saying. When asked how far he got with the announced revival of the economy in cooperation with successful businessmen in underdeveloped parts of Serbia, he said that the businessmen had expressed readiness to help develop those regions. He added that every part of Serbia had potential and hard-working people who wanted to work. He added that the country would not interfere with the businessmen’s work. “The state is here to determine the framework, ensure a stable business environment and adopt incentive measures in order to start the business. At the same time, a businessman should know about his market, what buyers want to buy how much they are ready to pay for it,” the president noted. Nikolic said he believed that the new government had started its mandate at the worst possible moment in modern Serbian history. “With an empty budget, state administration deep in corruption and the upside-down system of values it is very hard to roll up our sleeves now and tackle the problems,” he was quoted as saying. The president stressed that the government courageously and responsibly started moving forward and that it was normal to have problems along the way. “Media really have no mercy for the slightest mistakes but that’s the way it should be. But let’s wait for 100 days to go and for the ministers to say what has been done. I think that there are really some concrete results despite all the problems. I wish they continue the hard work responsibly and as a team,” Nikolic said. He believes that it was not important to have successful individuals if the entire team was unsuccessful. Tomislav Nikolic (file) Tanjug Press

President: Serbia will get EU talks date in 2013

“We have intensified our contacts in the sense of getting a date for the beginning of the negotiations and we have support, especially in countries of the region that gladly point to the mistakes they made in the process,” he told daily Press.

“Therefore, Serbia is working on fulfilling the EU recommendations and we expect to get a clear signal that our efforts will be rewarded next year,” Nikolić said.

He pointed out that one of his priorities was a foreign political activity aimed at attracting foreign investments and improving Serbia’s image in the world.

“Serbia is a very interesting destination for investments, it has a favorable geographical origin and represents a bride between the East and the West,” the president was quoted as saying.

When asked how far he got with the announced revival of the economy in cooperation with successful businessmen in underdeveloped parts of Serbia, he said that the businessmen had expressed readiness to help develop those regions. He added that every part of Serbia had potential and hard-working people who wanted to work.

He added that the country would not interfere with the businessmen’s work.

“The state is here to determine the framework, ensure a stable business environment and adopt incentive measures in order to start the business. At the same time, a businessman should know about his market, what buyers want to buy how much they are ready to pay for it,” the president noted.

Nikolić said he believed that the new government had started its mandate at the worst possible moment in modern Serbian history.

“With an empty budget, state administration deep in corruption and the upside-down system of values it is very hard to roll up our sleeves now and tackle the problems,” he was quoted as saying.

The president stressed that the government courageously and responsibly started moving forward and that it was normal to have problems along the way.

“Media really have no mercy for the slightest mistakes but that’s the way it should be. But let’s wait for 100 days to go and for the ministers to say what has been done. I think that there are really some concrete results despite all the problems. I wish they continue the hard work responsibly and as a team,” Nikolić said.

He believes that it was not important to have successful individuals if the entire team was unsuccessful.