Ambassador: Membership bid doomed without SAA

UK Ambassador Stephen Wordsworth says Serbia should not apply for EU membership until the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) is implemented first.

Izvor: FoNet

Wednesday, 16.09.2009.

14:39

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UK Ambassador Stephen Wordsworth says Serbia should not apply for EU membership until the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) is implemented first. “The EU Council of Ministers votes on the application before it is sent to the European Commission for consideration. The vote within the Council must reach a consensus or there is a danger of rejection if one or more countries do not support the application,“ Wordsworth told a panel debate organized by the Summer School for Democracy. Ambassador: Membership bid doomed without SAA The British ambassador added that Britain shared Serbia's goal and understood the frustration caused by the suspension of the accession process, but that applying for candidate status would simply not work. He pointed out that the European integration process had its phases and advised the Serbian authorities to "take one step at a time" in achieving that goal. Speaking about visa abolition for citizens of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, which would allow them to travel to Schengen countries from January 1, 2010, the ambassador said that it was unrealistic to expect the UK, which is not part of the Schengen zone, to decide on a possible visa-free regime for Serbian citizens before 2011. He explained that the British authorities conducted an evaluation on migration risks for each country every four years, the last having been in 2007, when it was concluded that a visa-free regime could not be established with Serbia, due to the absence at the time of biometric passports. Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Balkan Fund for Democracy Ivan Vejvoda said that progress would be made this autumn in the EU integration of the Western Balkans. Vejvoda said that he expected Serbia to submit its EU membership application and have its visa regime abolished next year. Regarding the rest of the region, he said that he expected Croatia’s negotiations with the EU to be unfrozen and Montenegro to submit its questionnaire to the European Commission. He also highlighted the importance of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in October. “We’ve had a tough year, but things were not as bad as we expected for two reasons. The entire region is focused on European integration and everyone agrees that disputes must be settled through peaceful means,” Vejvoda said. Stephen Wordsworth (Beta)

Ambassador: Membership bid doomed without SAA

The British ambassador added that Britain shared Serbia's goal and understood the frustration caused by the suspension of the accession process, but that applying for candidate status would simply not work.

He pointed out that the European integration process had its phases and advised the Serbian authorities to "take one step at a time" in achieving that goal.

Speaking about visa abolition for citizens of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, which would allow them to travel to Schengen countries from January 1, 2010, the ambassador said that it was unrealistic to expect the UK, which is not part of the Schengen zone, to decide on a possible visa-free regime for Serbian citizens before 2011.

He explained that the British authorities conducted an evaluation on migration risks for each country every four years, the last having been in 2007, when it was concluded that a visa-free regime could not be established with Serbia, due to the absence at the time of biometric passports.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Balkan Fund for Democracy Ivan Vejvoda said that progress would be made this autumn in the EU integration of the Western Balkans.

Vejvoda said that he expected Serbia to submit its EU membership application and have its visa regime abolished next year.

Regarding the rest of the region, he said that he expected Croatia’s negotiations with the EU to be unfrozen and Montenegro to submit its questionnaire to the European Commission.

He also highlighted the importance of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in October.

“We’ve had a tough year, but things were not as bad as we expected for two reasons. The entire region is focused on European integration and everyone agrees that disputes must be settled through peaceful means,” Vejvoda said.

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