"Candidacy after Irish referendum"

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic says that a decision to apply for EU candidate status will be taken after the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. In an interview with today’s edition of daily Vecernje Novosti, Jeremic said that Serbia would continue to meet the criteria for membership, even though EU enlargement depends to a far greater extent on Brussels itself than the membership candidates. "Candidacy after Irish referendum" “The EU is about to take key decisions on its internal organization and the process of future enlargement. It remains to be seen what kind of Europe we will wake up to on October 3 once the results of the Irish referendum are published,“ said the minister. He said that he hoped that, after the Irish referendum, “the conditions will be created for the smooth resumption of the enlargement process.“ Jeremic stressed that full political will existed in Belgrade to resume work at full capacity on EU integration, adding that the authorities were continuing their efforts to meet the final political condition: full Hague cooperation. Regarding the case before the International Court of Justice on the legality of Kosovo’s unilateral independence, the minister said that Serbia was “fully prepared“ for the day after the court’s ruling. “We’ll be ready for dialogue the first day after the ruling. We hope that the court’s decision will bring us to a situation where there is no alternative to new talks. It will become clear that attempts to impose independence have failed and that a new path towards a lasting and sustainable solution needs to be found,“ he stressed. Asked about press speculation that President Boris Tadic had promised his dismissal to foreign diplomats, Jeremic replied that “the president certainly did not make any such promises to foreign diplomats.“ “We’ve managed in Serbia to get a leadership that makes promises only to Serbian citizens,“ was the minister’s curt response, adding that he knew of no such requests nor did he think that anyone would be so rude as to ask. Vuk Jeremic (Tanjug, archive)

"Candidacy after Irish referendum"

“The EU is about to take key decisions on its internal organization and the process of future enlargement. It remains to be seen what kind of Europe we will wake up to on October 3 once the results of the Irish referendum are published,“ said the minister.

He said that he hoped that, after the Irish referendum, “the conditions will be created for the smooth resumption of the enlargement process.“

Jeremić stressed that full political will existed in Belgrade to resume work at full capacity on EU integration, adding that the authorities were continuing their efforts to meet the final political condition: full Hague cooperation.

Regarding the case before the International Court of Justice on the legality of Kosovo’s unilateral independence, the minister said that Serbia was “fully prepared“ for the day after the court’s ruling.

“We’ll be ready for dialogue the first day after the ruling. We hope that the court’s decision will bring us to a situation where there is no alternative to new talks. It will become clear that attempts to impose independence have failed and that a new path towards a lasting and sustainable solution needs to be found,“ he stressed.

Asked about press speculation that President Boris Tadić had promised his dismissal to foreign diplomats, Jeremić replied that “the president certainly did not make any such promises to foreign diplomats.“

“We’ve managed in Serbia to get a leadership that makes promises only to Serbian citizens,“ was the minister’s curt response, adding that he knew of no such requests nor did he think that anyone would be so rude as to ask.