"Team for talks should be formed as soon as possible"

BELGRADE EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule met on Thursday with Serbian Parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic and representatives of party groups in parliament. According to him, "the most important thing at the moment was to form the negotiating team and appoint its leader as soon as possible." "Team for talks should be formed as soon as possible" Screening will begin in September with chapters 23 and 24, which refer to the judiciary, basic rights, justice, freedom and security, Fule said at the meeting, according to a statement from the parliament. Chapter 35, which covers other issues, and in Serbia's case includes Kosovo, does not change the rules of the game, he pointed out. A part of that chapter will be the attitude towards the management and implementation of everything related to the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina, Fule noted, adding that the EU had no intention of forcing Serbia to do anything outside of the harmonization process. Commenting on Serbia's territorial integrity, sovereignty and EU integration, Fule said globalization made countries interconnected, but that it was up to the small countries to find ways of cooperation. As for EU membership, Fule stated it was not a distant goal and that it was clear the process led to EU accession, but the speed and timeframe for that would be decided by Serbia itself. Commenting on the role of the parliament, he said it was important for it to strengthen its position and credibility in the negotiating process and be open to all citizens, stressing that civil society should be included in the process. Fule encouraged parliament members to take part in the planning and work related to the talks, explaining that the parliament had a huge task ahead of it with all the laws that would have to be adopted. Fule recommended that the negotiations be organized in such a way that politicians could discuss actual results and accomplishments instead of being presented as a group of demands set by Brussels that require tough decisions and create difficulties that would go away once EU membership was gained. Stefanovic thanked Fule for supporting Serbia in starting the accession talks and stressed that his help had been precious. Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert attended the meeting as well. (Tanjug) Tanjug

"Team for talks should be formed as soon as possible"

Screening will begin in September with chapters 23 and 24, which refer to the judiciary, basic rights, justice, freedom and security, Fule said at the meeting, according to a statement from the parliament.

Chapter 35, which covers other issues, and in Serbia's case includes Kosovo, does not change the rules of the game, he pointed out.

A part of that chapter will be the attitude towards the management and implementation of everything related to the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Priština, Fule noted, adding that the EU had no intention of forcing Serbia to do anything outside of the harmonization process.

Commenting on Serbia's territorial integrity, sovereignty and EU integration, Fule said globalization made countries interconnected, but that it was up to the small countries to find ways of cooperation.

As for EU membership, Fule stated it was not a distant goal and that it was clear the process led to EU accession, but the speed and timeframe for that would be decided by Serbia itself.

Commenting on the role of the parliament, he said it was important for it to strengthen its position and credibility in the negotiating process and be open to all citizens, stressing that civil society should be included in the process.

Fule encouraged parliament members to take part in the planning and work related to the talks, explaining that the parliament had a huge task ahead of it with all the laws that would have to be adopted.

Fule recommended that the negotiations be organized in such a way that politicians could discuss actual results and accomplishments instead of being presented as a group of demands set by Brussels that require tough decisions and create difficulties that would go away once EU membership was gained.

Stefanović thanked Fule for supporting Serbia in starting the accession talks and stressed that his help had been precious.

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert attended the meeting as well.