Italian FM: Europe waiting for Serbia

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema expects Serbia to resume her EU journey soon, and says Europe is waiting for her.

Izvor: Beta

Saturday, 22.03.2008.

14:28

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Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema expects Serbia to resume her EU journey soon, and says Europe is waiting for her. D’Alema told daily Vecernje Novosti that he always had been, and still was “a strong proponent of encouraging Serbia to continue and complete the road to European integration.“ Italian FM: Europe waiting for Serbia “Belgrade and Brussels’ integration is becoming ever clearer. I hope we'll soon be able to continue from where we left off, with the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, whose time has aready come, and the abolishment of the visa regime,“ said the Italian foreign minister. He reiterated that there had been strong ties between Serbia and Italy for a long time, and “regardless of the current circumstances, Serbia is a key country for stability, peace and development in the western Balkans.“ D’Alema stressed that he was aware of the bitterness over Kosovo, but that he felt events there had been “specific and dramatic,“ and that they had led to an outcome that the EU had considered inevitable and had not “taken lightly.“ The minister expressed his gratitude to the Serbian leadership for calling for moderation and for seeing to it that certain events had not developed into a larger-scale conflict. He harked back to Italy’s long-term presence within the peacekeeping forces in Kosovo, where they had defended human rights, identity, as well as Serbian culture and religious heritage. Expressing his certainty that Italy would attempt to surmount “this difficult and undoubtedly difficult phase,“ D’Alema stressed that Serbia would be able to recapture the important international role in Europe that belonged to her, with Europe’s help. "We’re waiting for Serbia. We believe that she’ll know to make the right choice in the direction of a European future with a strategic and long-term vision," the minister concluded.

Italian FM: Europe waiting for Serbia

“Belgrade and Brussels’ integration is becoming ever clearer. I hope we'll soon be able to continue from where we left off, with the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, whose time has aready come, and the abolishment of the visa regime,“ said the Italian foreign minister.

He reiterated that there had been strong ties between Serbia and Italy for a long time, and “regardless of the current circumstances, Serbia is a key country for stability, peace and development in the western Balkans.“

D’Alema stressed that he was aware of the bitterness over Kosovo, but that he felt events there had been “specific and dramatic,“ and that they had led to an outcome that the EU had considered inevitable and had not “taken lightly.“

The minister expressed his gratitude to the Serbian leadership for calling for moderation and for seeing to it that certain events had not developed into a larger-scale conflict.

He harked back to Italy’s long-term presence within the peacekeeping forces in Kosovo, where they had defended human rights, identity, as well as Serbian culture and religious heritage.

Expressing his certainty that Italy would attempt to surmount “this difficult and undoubtedly difficult phase,“ D’Alema stressed that Serbia would be able to recapture the important international role in Europe that belonged to her, with Europe’s help.

"We’re waiting for Serbia. We believe that she’ll know to make the right choice in the direction of a European future with a strategic and long-term vision," the minister concluded.

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