President meets with EU commissioner

President meets with EU commissioner

At the same time he emphasized the importance of dialogue with Pristina and the measures that must be implemented, especially in the field of the rule of law, in order to achieve this.

According to a statement issued by his office, President Nikolic said during the meeting that "Serbia expects EU's unequivocal support to the government" and the opening of first chapters in the membership negotiations by the end of the year.

Nikolic "stressed that the results Serbia has achieved are evident and that by measures taken in the framework of the implementation of reforms and the agreements reached with Pristina, Serbia showed its absolute foreign policy priority is to join the European Union."

"From the European Union we expect encouragement for the measures that no other political option has managed to implement," said Nikolic.

He also thanked Hahn "for his efforts to convince EU member states that Serbia is on the right track to meet the conditions for the opening of chapters in the negotiations with the EU" and stressed that he should have in mind that it is "very difficult to sustain Euro-optimism among the citizens of Serbia who still have no hope for a better life, despite of the great efforts of the state."

Nikolic also pointed out to the danger a Greater Albania, which directly threatens Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, and Serbia.

"We expect the inviolability of state borders to be respected," stressed the Serbian president, and added that this should apply to equally to Macedonia, Ukraine, and Serbia.

According to the statement, Nikolic also informed the EU official that he was finalizing his Kosovo platform proposal, which will soon be sent to the prime minister."

"I am confident that we can achieve a compromise with the Pristina institutions and transfer a large part of jurisdictions to them. For us, the recognition (of Kosovo) is a condition that we cannot accept, because it is the will of the majority of citizens of Serbia," said the president.

Hahn was quoted as saying that "Kosovo is one side of the coin, while the other is the readiness of the state to open chapters."

"We await the action plan, particularly for chapters 23 and 24, which was promised last week, but did not arrive due to internal consultations. Once we receive the proposal, we will consider it at the Commissariat, then with the member states involved in this process," said Hahn.

"When you speak to 28 members, each has its own view of things and interests. Some are interested in the rule of law, some in application of human rights, some in the freedom of the media. It is not straightforward to harmonize all that," he stressed.

The statement added that Hahn said "it was also not simple to explain to European interlocutors why Serbia is participating in the parade in Moscow," and "supported his opinion by the fact that the harmonization of foreign policy of the candidates with EU foreign policy is a process, and we should bear in mind the mood of the citizens of a candidate country toward a foreign policy issue."