Minister: EU membership talks date possible in June

Source: Tanjug

BELGRADE -- The EC will in March or April decide "whether progress has been made in reforms", and whether to give Serbia a date for the start of EU talks in June.

Rasim Ljajić (Tanjug, file)
Rasim Ljajić (Tanjug, file)

This is according to Serbian Minister of Trade Rasim Ljajić.

"If our country does not get a date for the beginning of the EU accession negotiations by June, we will have to wait a year and a half for a new date," he told Belgrade-based Pink TV on Sunday, adding that the government was doing everything in its power to start the EU accession negotiations this year.

When asked if the government could be destabilized, Ljajić said that "unofficial statements in media were not a reason for possible instability".

He explained that the government faced "great challenges - such as difficult economic situation in the country, negotiations with Priština, continuation of the EU integration, combat against crime and corruption".

Asked about different positions of Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić and Prime Minister Ivica Dačić regarding the platform for Kosovo, Ljajić said that different opinions about political issues in the country should exist but pointed out that "once a decision has been made, it has to apply to everybody".