"Important day for Serbia"

"Important day for Serbia"

He stressed that everything was going according to schedule despite all challenges and that Serbia had not wasted a single day in its EU accession talks and had made a lot of progress.

Davenport said that the negotiating framework in the Serbia-EU talks had been adopted in December 2013 and the first conference on the accession had been held in January, pointing out that the two decisions were a well deserved recognition of the continuous progress that Serbia was making in reforms and in the normalization of relations with Priština.

The head of the EU delegation said that the early parliamentary elections of March this year had reconfirmed Serbia’s European integration aspirations.

I wish to stress the high degree of professionalism and dedication shown by Serbia's public administration in the entire process, said Davenport, adding that the EU acquis screening process was planned to be completed by March 2015.

He pointed out that it was vital that Serbia continues to be committed to regional cooperation and normalization of relations with Priština, with full implementation of the agreement Belgrade and Priština had reached in Brussels.

Davenport said that Serbia had to take additional fiscal consolidation measures, which had become an even greater need after the May flooding, adding that the EU would continue to be Serbia’s biggest partner in the rehabilitation of flood-affected areas.

It is clear that Serbia has to focus on the rule of law, media freedom, freedom of expression, implementing the media strategy, and public administration, he said.

Davenport said that he expected Serbia to align with the EU when it came to the common security policy, adding that Serbia would have to step up efforts to harmonize with EU environmental protection and energy standards.

The EU will be with Serbia in all its efforts to meet the Union’s requirements, Davenport said, adding that the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance will be the main joint financial instrument.

By 2020, Serbia will have at its disposal more than EUR 1.5 billion to use by acting in the interests of all its citizens on the road to the EU, said Davenport.

Aleksandar Vučić said that Serbia did an important job in the past period, that he was partially satisfied with the report, and that he personally thought it was not enough, for which reason we must work harder in the future.

He stated that the European Commission (EC) report on Serbia's progress on its EU path is for the most part objective but it also contains some political assessments that can be further debated.

“We have doubtlessly won best rankings and received the smallest number of remarks compared to all others (countries in the region),” Vučić said addressing a joint news conference following the meeting with Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia Michael Davenport.

He noted that he is satisfied with the qualification of the reforms and economic measures in the EC report, as well as the assessment of regional cooperation.

Vučić qualified as very positive the section of the report that covers media freedoms, but he added that he did not get the answers to the questions as to who, where, when, how and why is exerting the alleged pressures on the media.

The Serbian prime minister noted that certain parts of the report could have been much more critical coming from EC, primarily in terms of the situation in the judiciary and environmental protection, adding that this is why he is only partially satisfied.

In the previous period, Serbia completed an important share of work, Vučić said and added that he believes this is not enough, which is why greater and more intense efforts should be invested in the time to come.