NATO “not condition for EU”

EU Enlargement Directorate Deputy Director Stefano Sannino has said that NATO membership is not a condition for the EU membership. “I cannot speak for the NATO, but what I can say is that some EU member states are not members of the NATO and that some European NATO members are not in the EU,” he pointed out. NATO “not condition for EU” He told daily Politika that now was the right time for the Serbian government to fully commit to implementation of reforms and to believe that the state and the citizens would together with the EU work on the job that comes before the membership. He has assessed that Belgrade’s full cooperation with The Hague should not be problematic and that there was an “expressed political will” for the cooperation and that the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue was the first step in the right direction, i.e. toward the EU membership. “Cooperation with The Hague should not be problematic, but efforts and commitment need to be intensified. When it comes to Kosovo, I understand that it is a very sensitive issue for Serbia. I think that the decision on Serbia and EU’s joint resolution in the UN was good, just like the decision to begin the dialogue with Pristina in a very constructive spirit of cooperation,” he was quoted as saying. “When it comes to EC opinion and recommendation regarding Serbia’s candidacy, it’s a decision that will be made based on several elements,” Sannino said, adding that EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule had been very clear and that he had named all the elements. The EU Enlargement Directorate deputy director pointed out that those were rule of law, judicial reform, combat against organized crime and corruption, financing of political parties, blank resignation letters, regional cooperation assessment and cooperation with the Hague Tribunal. “We will make a judgment about it based on the work results in all areas. Plenty has been done but there is still work that needs to be done… I believe that the reshuffled government can now focus on priorities that it has determined and which are the same as the European ones. The work just has to be continued and we will cooperate very closely in the next several months, knowing that there is not much time left,” he said. As far as judicial reform is concerned, Sannino pointed out that there had been some initial difficulties but that it was “now going in the right direction”. “I think that a serious work has been done there with close cooperation with the Council of Europe, Venice Commission and our experts, if we exclude initial problems that were identified by the end of the last year, and I think that we are on the right track now,” he was quoted as saying. Sannino also said that he would like to see concrete results in the judges and prosecutors’ reelection procedure, adding that he was convinced that it would happen “because we see seriousness of the justice minister (Snezana Malovic) and her colleagues who are working on the issue”. Stefano Sannino

NATO “not condition for EU”

He told daily Politika that now was the right time for the Serbian government to fully commit to implementation of reforms and to believe that the state and the citizens would together with the EU work on the job that comes before the membership.

He has assessed that Belgrade’s full cooperation with The Hague should not be problematic and that there was an “expressed political will” for the cooperation and that the Belgrade-Priština dialogue was the first step in the right direction, i.e. toward the EU membership.

“Cooperation with The Hague should not be problematic, but efforts and commitment need to be intensified. When it comes to Kosovo, I understand that it is a very sensitive issue for Serbia. I think that the decision on Serbia and EU’s joint resolution in the UN was good, just like the decision to begin the dialogue with Priština in a very constructive spirit of cooperation,” he was quoted as saying.

“When it comes to EC opinion and recommendation regarding Serbia’s candidacy, it’s a decision that will be made based on several elements,” Sannino said, adding that EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule had been very clear and that he had named all the elements.

The EU Enlargement Directorate deputy director pointed out that those were rule of law, judicial reform, combat against organized crime and corruption, financing of political parties, blank resignation letters, regional cooperation assessment and cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.

“We will make a judgment about it based on the work results in all areas. Plenty has been done but there is still work that needs to be done… I believe that the reshuffled government can now focus on priorities that it has determined and which are the same as the European ones. The work just has to be continued and we will cooperate very closely in the next several months, knowing that there is not much time left,” he said.

As far as judicial reform is concerned, Sannino pointed out that there had been some initial difficulties but that it was “now going in the right direction”.

“I think that a serious work has been done there with close cooperation with the Council of Europe, Venice Commission and our experts, if we exclude initial problems that were identified by the end of the last year, and I think that we are on the right track now,” he was quoted as saying.

Sannino also said that he would like to see concrete results in the judges and prosecutors’ reelection procedure, adding that he was convinced that it would happen “because we see seriousness of the justice minister (Snežana Malović) and her colleagues who are working on the issue”.