Serbia "ready for accession talks," says negotiator

BRUSSELS Head of Serbia's team for the accession talks with the EU Tanja Miscevic said in Brussels on Tuesday Serbia was ready to enter the talks. Serbia is not starting from zero, as it began harmonizing its legislation with EU standards a decade ago, long before the Stabilization and Association Agreement was signed, she noted. Serbia "ready for accession talks," says negotiator The Serbian team coordinates all its activities related to the talks with representatives of the civil sector and business community, she said at a conference on EU enlargement in Brussels. The event was organized by the non-governmental organization Friends of Europe, while EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule opened the conference. Miscevic stressed that Serbia had additional issues regarding its EU integration, pointing to Chapter 35 of the talks, which is related to the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina. The accession talks and the dialogue on the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina should support each other, and not be a hindrance to one another, she stated. Slovakia's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Miroslav Lajcak commended Serbia on its efforts in EU integration and the normalization of the relations with Pristina. "It is obvious there are countries that are in the fast lane on their road to the EU and those that are falling behind," he remarked, adding that Serbia, Montenegro and Albania were among those in the fast lane. Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina should look up to Serbia, he said, explaining that no one could convince him that Macedonia's dispute with Greece about its name or the constitutional issues in Bosnia-Herzegovina were harder to solve than the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina. Tanjug

Serbia "ready for accession talks," says negotiator

The Serbian team coordinates all its activities related to the talks with representatives of the civil sector and business community, she said at a conference on EU enlargement in Brussels.

The event was organized by the non-governmental organization Friends of Europe, while EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule opened the conference. Miščević stressed that Serbia had additional issues regarding its EU integration, pointing to Chapter 35 of the talks, which is related to the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Priština.

The accession talks and the dialogue on the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Priština should support each other, and not be a hindrance to one another, she stated.

Slovakia's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Miroslav Lajčak commended Serbia on its efforts in EU integration and the normalization of the relations with Priština.

"It is obvious there are countries that are in the fast lane on their road to the EU and those that are falling behind," he remarked, adding that Serbia, Montenegro and Albania were among those in the fast lane.

Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina should look up to Serbia, he said, explaining that no one could convince him that Macedonia's dispute with Greece about its name or the constitutional issues in Bosnia-Herzegovina were harder to solve than the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Priština.