EU "should now show Serbia all was not in vain"

EU "should now show Serbia all was not in vain"

"It would be good if Brussels were now to show that Serbia's decisive steps have not been in vain by opening the first (EU membership negotiations) chapters soon," added Nikolic.

"This would encourage our people, show them that the European Union wants us in its membership and make the goal we want to achieve closer to them - a normal, modern country and a better life for all our citizens," he said, as quoted by the media office.

Rinkevics agreed with the president that it would be good if Brussels, "as some kind of gesture of goodwill," would soon open the first chapters.

Rinkevics was also cited as saying that he hoped this will happen very quickly, "because the progress made by Serbia in the reform process is obvious," and "expressed regret that it will not happen during Latvia's presidency of the European Union."

Nikolic then noted that Serbia in its bid to become a EU member faces conditions that other states have not - "and would therefore likely be more successful than some member states of the European Union, as it will try to meet the requirements from the standard 34 chapters in the best possible way."

"Regarding the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, Belgrade entered into the dialogue with Pristina sincerely because we are very interested in reducing tensions and achieving better conditions of life for all citizens who live in Kosovo and Metohija, something that the Constitution also binds us to do," Nikolic said, and added:

"However, Serbia will never recognize independence of its southern province, so it is not good for anyone to encourage the administration in Pristina about that being the final objective of the ongoing dialogue."

Rinkevics "welcomed the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and Serbia's active role to overcome the problems related to Kosovo in that way," the statement concluded.

"Strategic priority

Rinkevics was also received by Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who "underlined that the EU integration process is Serbia's strategic foreign policy priority," said a government statement quoted by Tanjug.

“Serbia has done a lot on its EU pathway and is now carefully preparing for the membership,” the Serbian prime minister said, adding that the process of screening has been completed with much success, and it is expected that the EU will now speed up the negotiating process with Serbia by opening chapters.

Vucic informed Rinkevics about the social and economic reforms implemented in Serbia and the progress made in the dialogue with Pristina representatives in Brussels on Tuesday evening.

Rinkevics said that the EU highly appreciates the reforms implemented by the Serbian government, adding that Latvia, as the EU chair in the first half of 2015, stands ready to help opening the first negotiating chapters.

"If this happens by the end of Latvia's EU presidency, that would be our success as well," he said.