FM now "confident" Serbia will get EU talks date

BRUSSELS Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic stated late on Monday that he is confident that Serbia will get a date for the opening of EU membership talks in June. He spoke for Tanjug after a working dinner with his counterparts from the European Union and EU candidate countries, hosted by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. FM now "confident" Serbia will get EU talks date "Never in my diplomatic career have I attended a meeting at which our government was praised so much," Mrkic said after the three-hour dinner at the headquarters of the European External Action Service in Brussels. Mrkic also said that Serbia and the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue were the dominant topics at the dinner, which was also attended by the foreign ministers of 27 EU countries and the foreign ministers of Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia and Iceland. "Everyone who had an opportunity to speak at the dinner, including Baroness Ashton, spoke in glowing terms about our foreign policy," Mrkic said, adding that, according to general opinion, the moves Serbia has been making are the right ones and serve in the interest of Kosovo Serbs and Serbia's future. "I cannot guarantee anything, but I personally am convinced that we will get a date for the start of the talks on fully-fledged membership," he noted. The Serbian foreign minister stated that during the dinner he also had bilateral talks with his counterparts from the region, which were also conducted in a positive atmosphere. "As for the region, the unanimous opinion is that a completely different atmosphere than the one from the past has been created," Mrkic concluded. (Tanjug, file) Tanjug

FM now "confident" Serbia will get EU talks date

"Never in my diplomatic career have I attended a meeting at which our government was praised so much," Mrkić said after the three-hour dinner at the headquarters of the European External Action Service in Brussels.

Mrkić also said that Serbia and the Belgrade-Priština dialogue were the dominant topics at the dinner, which was also attended by the foreign ministers of 27 EU countries and the foreign ministers of Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia and Iceland.

"Everyone who had an opportunity to speak at the dinner, including Baroness Ashton, spoke in glowing terms about our foreign policy," Mrkić said, adding that, according to general opinion, the moves Serbia has been making are the right ones and serve in the interest of Kosovo Serbs and Serbia's future.

"I cannot guarantee anything, but I personally am convinced that we will get a date for the start of the talks on fully-fledged membership," he noted.

The Serbian foreign minister stated that during the dinner he also had bilateral talks with his counterparts from the region, which were also conducted in a positive atmosphere.

"As for the region, the unanimous opinion is that a completely different atmosphere than the one from the past has been created," Mrkić concluded.