PM expects "good news from Brussels"

BELGRADE Serbia’s Prime Minister Ivica Dacic has stated that high-level talks with Pristina will continue in the second half of May. He stressed that a plan for the implementation of the Brussels agreement needed to be determined and that he expected good news from Brussels afterward, noting that he expected Serbia to get a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations. PM expects "good news from Brussels" According to him, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy should come to Belgrade on July 1 “if everything is alright and I suppose that nobody will come if there is no good news”. “We want Serbia to be good news in the world and we also expect good news from Brussels,” the prime minister said on Wednesday. He stressed he was certain Serbia would get a date for the start of the EU accession talks because it had done almost everything and reached “the position when there is no going back”. The PM stressed that the new government had in a short period of time faced all problems and open issues and showed commitment to developing relations with the EU “as its main partner”. Dacic added that the main political criterion had been the Kosovo issue and the implementation of the agreements. He stressed that everybody in the government should know that they could not only make popular decisions but also those that served the country’s interests. According to the prime minister, there are no dilemmas in Serbia today, at least not among main political factors. He added that the EU integration was the public orientation and the most important foreign policy goal of the government and the state. “The EU is without a doubt our most important partner, investor at the moment and we are certainly looking to the EU in every sense,” Dacic added and noted that he was certain that the EU enlargement would in the future include the region, which Croatia's accession proved. Dacic assessed that the start of the EU accession negotiations would have a “wider psychological dimension” among the public because it would be a proof that the country was really making progress on the EU pathway. He said that the EU’s support was important as well, bearing in mind the difficult economic situation, 25 percent unemployment rate. “As a prime minister I am not here to tell bedtime stories but to rouse from sleep. GDP in Serbia today is 65 percent of the 1989 GDP,” he said and added that the issue of whose fault it was should be set aside for now so we could concentrate on next steps. “That is why a crucial issue for us is to start the negotiations as soon as possible because I am sure that they mean tectonic changes in our society and a positive move of the entire Serbia,” Dacic said and reiterated that the Brussels agreement would greatly contribute to it. “The biggest significance of the agreement is not its quality but in making a strategic position for Serbia, an image of Serbia that exists and a possibility for Serbia to strengthen its foreign political position and that way have stances that are more respected and appreciated in the international community,” the prime minister concluded. Ivica Dacic (MUP) B92 Beta Tanjug

PM expects "good news from Brussels"

According to him, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy should come to Belgrade on July 1 “if everything is alright and I suppose that nobody will come if there is no good news”.

“We want Serbia to be good news in the world and we also expect good news from Brussels,” the prime minister said on Wednesday.

He stressed he was certain Serbia would get a date for the start of the EU accession talks because it had done almost everything and reached “the position when there is no going back”.

The PM stressed that the new government had in a short period of time faced all problems and open issues and showed commitment to developing relations with the EU “as its main partner”.

Dačić added that the main political criterion had been the Kosovo issue and the implementation of the agreements.

He stressed that everybody in the government should know that they could not only make popular decisions but also those that served the country’s interests.

According to the prime minister, there are no dilemmas in Serbia today, at least not among main political factors. He added that the EU integration was the public orientation and the most important foreign policy goal of the government and the state.

“The EU is without a doubt our most important partner, investor at the moment and we are certainly looking to the EU in every sense,” Dačić added and noted that he was certain that the EU enlargement would in the future include the region, which Croatia's accession proved.

Dačić assessed that the start of the EU accession negotiations would have a “wider psychological dimension” among the public because it would be a proof that the country was really making progress on the EU pathway. He said that the EU’s support was important as well, bearing in mind the difficult economic situation, 25 percent unemployment rate.

“As a prime minister I am not here to tell bedtime stories but to rouse from sleep. GDP in Serbia today is 65 percent of the 1989 GDP,” he said and added that the issue of whose fault it was should be set aside for now so we could concentrate on next steps.

“That is why a crucial issue for us is to start the negotiations as soon as possible because I am sure that they mean tectonic changes in our society and a positive move of the entire Serbia,” Dačić said and reiterated that the Brussels agreement would greatly contribute to it.

“The biggest significance of the agreement is not its quality but in making a strategic position for Serbia, an image of Serbia that exists and a possibility for Serbia to strengthen its foreign political position and that way have stances that are more respected and appreciated in the international community,” the prime minister concluded.