EU membership bid "no sprint, but marathon"

BELGRADE The Serbian deputy prime minister in charge of EU integrations has said that Serbia's bid to join the organization was "not easy or simple". Suzana Grubjesic also told the Belgrade-based daily Danas that while the cabinet and the country's president were "clearly in favor of the EU", Serbia "should not rush in" along that road, which she described as "no 100-meter track, but rather a marathon". EU membership bid "no sprint, but marathon" Her statement came in the wake of President Tomislav Nikolic's speech at the ruling SNS party gathering over the weekend, when he stated that Serbia "had no reason to run after a date for the start of EU membership talks". "What's important is that we are on that road, and that we are changing Serbia for our sake, not for the sake of Brussels and Berlin," Grubjesic stressed. She further noted that there were "different voices and conditions" in the EU when it comes to Serbia, "while we are ready to fulfill all the conditions met by other countries on their way toward the union - but nobody can ask us to do what everyone knows we cannot accept, and that is a recognition of independence of Kosovo and Metohija." Commenting on Nikolic's speech, Faculty of Political Sciences professor Predrag Simic said it was "likely an answer to EU foreign policy and security chief Catherine Ashton's statement", who said last week that the Serbian president "should prepare for some tough decisions". Simic also described the weekend speech as "a clear u-turn compared to his address at the UN General Assembly - so it's possible he said it for the sake of Ashton." Another possibility, noted the former Serbian ambassador abroad, is that the speech, "had it been planned", came from the new self-confidence felt by the authorities - "because it's now beginning to become apparent that the SNS did not win the election by chance". Nikolic told the extraordinary SNS election assembly - which chose Aleksandar Vucic as party leader - that Serbia wishes to cooperate, does not ask for anything belonging to someone else, and has no intention of starting conflicts - but that "as long as the SNS and other political parties exist in Serbia" the country would not give away anything of its own. "Let whoever is asking for something that belongs to us consider what kind of person they are. It's as if they told us 'give us one of your children, you pick which one'. Have children of your own, don't touch mine," Nikolic said. He also told the gathering that Serbia was economically ruined during the last ten years, and that it would "think about itself for a while now". Danas

EU membership bid "no sprint, but marathon"

Her statement came in the wake of President Tomislav Nikolić's speech at the ruling SNS party gathering over the weekend, when he stated that Serbia "had no reason to run after a date for the start of EU membership talks".

"What's important is that we are on that road, and that we are changing Serbia for our sake, not for the sake of Brussels and Berlin," Grubješić stressed.

She further noted that there were "different voices and conditions" in the EU when it comes to Serbia, "while we are ready to fulfill all the conditions met by other countries on their way toward the union - but nobody can ask us to do what everyone knows we cannot accept, and that is a recognition of independence of Kosovo and Metohija."

Commenting on Nikolić's speech, Faculty of Political Sciences professor Predrag Simić said it was "likely an answer to EU foreign policy and security chief Catherine Ashton's statement", who said last week that the Serbian president "should prepare for some tough decisions".

Simić also described the weekend speech as "a clear u-turn compared to his address at the UN General Assembly - so it's possible he said it for the sake of Ashton."

Another possibility, noted the former Serbian ambassador abroad, is that the speech, "had it been planned", came from the new self-confidence felt by the authorities - "because it's now beginning to become apparent that the SNS did not win the election by chance".

Nikolić told the extraordinary SNS election assembly - which chose Aleksandar Vučić as party leader - that Serbia wishes to cooperate, does not ask for anything belonging to someone else, and has no intention of starting conflicts - but that "as long as the SNS and other political parties exist in Serbia" the country would not give away anything of its own.

"Let whoever is asking for something that belongs to us consider what kind of person they are. It's as if they told us 'give us one of your children, you pick which one'. Have children of your own, don't touch mine," Nikolić said.

He also told the gathering that Serbia was economically ruined during the last ten years, and that it would "think about itself for a while now".