Start of EU talks in 2013 is realistic, EP rapporteur says

BELGRADE European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin has said that it is realistic to expect Serbia to start the EU accession talks this year. Kacin said that possible early elections would not help fulfill the goal. Start of EU talks in 2013 is realistic, EP rapporteur says He told Belgrade-based tabloid Kurir that there were no obstacles for the obtaining of a date for the start of the EU accession talks. “Obstacles that used to exist, such as lack of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, do not exist at the moment. The main challenge is normalization of relations with Pristina. Thanks to the political dialogue on the high level led by Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, I can say that a lot of progress has been made there. If the fifth round goes well too, I think that it is almost certain that Serbia will get a date for the beginning of the negotiations,” Kacin explained. When asked if the political situation in Serbia could affect further EU integration process, he said that every government faced crisis sometimes but that the current Serbian government had made important progress and achieved concrete results. “The EU integration certainly cannot be sped up if elections are held every year and the same goes for Serbia’s economic recovery,” Kacin was quoted as saying. He said that Serbia was “a step away from the start of the negotiations” and that early parliamentary elections would not help achieve the goal. Commenting on allegations that the Serbian PM had contacts with members of runway drug lord Darko Saric’s gang, the EP rapporteur said that Serbia was a sovereign country and that it needed to make assessments on the government and state institutions’ political credibility on its own. “I do not want to comment on those allegations because it is not my job as an EP rapporteur for Serbia. Competent organs should determined everyone’s liability,” Kacin concluded. Jelko Kacin (Beta, file) Tanjug Kurir

Start of EU talks in 2013 is realistic, EP rapporteur says

He told Belgrade-based tabloid Kurir that there were no obstacles for the obtaining of a date for the start of the EU accession talks.

“Obstacles that used to exist, such as lack of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, do not exist at the moment. The main challenge is normalization of relations with Priština. Thanks to the political dialogue on the high level led by Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, I can say that a lot of progress has been made there. If the fifth round goes well too, I think that it is almost certain that Serbia will get a date for the beginning of the negotiations,” Kacin explained.

When asked if the political situation in Serbia could affect further EU integration process, he said that every government faced crisis sometimes but that the current Serbian government had made important progress and achieved concrete results.

“The EU integration certainly cannot be sped up if elections are held every year and the same goes for Serbia’s economic recovery,” Kacin was quoted as saying.

He said that Serbia was “a step away from the start of the negotiations” and that early parliamentary elections would not help achieve the goal.

Commenting on allegations that the Serbian PM had contacts with members of runway drug lord Darko Šarić’s gang, the EP rapporteur said that Serbia was a sovereign country and that it needed to make assessments on the government and state institutions’ political credibility on its own.

“I do not want to comment on those allegations because it is not my job as an EP rapporteur for Serbia. Competent organs should determined everyone’s liability,” Kacin concluded.