EC: Serbia has made progress

EC: Serbia has made progress

The report, which will be officially presented on October 8, is generally positive, say Tanjug's diplomatic sources in Brussels.

With reservations that the report is yet to be finalized, the source who has seen the draft report notes that Serbia is commended for its commitment to the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, but that the Commission deems that it is lagging behind in the implementation of certain parts of the Brussels agreement.

The part of the report addressing the rights of the LGBT population has not been completed yet, as the Commission is waiting to see whether a pride parade set for September 28 will actually take place in Belgrade.

If the parade is cancelled again for security reasons, this will be met with harsh criticism as the same situation has taken place year after year, a Tanjug source said.

Apart from that, the Commission noted negatively the fact that several people were taken in for questioning over their activities on social media during the May floods, stressing that such a practice constitutes a violation of the freedom of speech.

On the other hand, the Serbian authorities are praised for passing a set of media laws, but the report underscores that the laws must now be effectively implemented.

The judiciary reform was mentioned as one of the fields in which speedier progress was expected. According to the Commission, Serbia should invest additional efforts in that, taking into consideration that this is a key field in the EU integration process.

Although the report notes that Serbia has not brought its foreign policy fully in line with that of the EU, there is no explicit request for Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia following the example of the EU, while on the other hand, Serbia is commended for the efforts put in improving relations with neighbors.

Finally, the Commission notes the adverse economic situation in Serbia, which was, besides structural problems, caused by the severe floods that hit the country in May, and welcomes the measures for reducing the budget deficit that Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic announced last week.

In the report, the Commission gives a recommendation to the member states to approve the opening of the first chapters in the accession negotiations as soon as the conditions are met.

This year, Serbia has completed the screening for a half of the total of 35 chapters, and expects that the first chapters will open at the beginning of 2015.

The report will once more be presented by outgoing EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele who will be replaced by Johannes Hahn on November 1.