"No negative scenario for Serbia’s EU accession"

"No negative scenario for Serbia’s EU accession"

I do not see any negative scenario, Mogherini said while addressing Serbian Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic and the country's MPs, adding that she refused to even think about such a scenario existing.

Serbia’s accession to the European Union is the road that we have taken together, fully aware of what it entails, and we can only speak about how much time it will take to get there, and I do not think it will take too long. We, too, not only you, find interrupting that journey unacceptable, said Mogherini.

She says that Italy, which holds the EU presidency for next six months, must demonstrate political leadership and stress every time that EU enlargement is a process in the interest of both the citizens of the member countries of the Union and the citizens of countries that have taken the road of European integration.

Mogherini pointed out, however, that one should not encourage any prophesying stories about a date of entry, as the Serbian people were already deriving benefits from the process of coming closer to the EU alone.

The reforms and all activities you are carrying out on the road to the EU are valuable in their own right, said the Italian foreign minister.

"You should not be telling the citizens that this and that is demanded of us by the EU, and when we do the task we will be rewarded, because it can create potential frustrations among both people and politicians," Mogherini said in her address to MPs.

"It does not hurt to say to both the Serbian and Italian public that the two countries are working together on the road to European integration not to fulfill any tasks, but rather to do everything that can be done for the benefit of their own people," Mogherini said.

Terminology

Federica Mogherini stated on Monday that it is of vital importance for the EU to maintain a unified stand concerning crises, and added that the word ultimatum does not belong in EU terminology.

"We are discussing the response to the Russian Federation concerning the events in Ukraine," Mogherini said during the panel discussion in the Serbian parliament.

Replying to the question of caucus whip of the opposition Democratic Party Borislav Stefanovic as to the message she communicated to Serbian officials, Mogherini said that her message to Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dačić was very clear.

The gravity of the crisis in Ukraine is increasing as weeks go by, and the only and the best possible response is a both strong and unified message which we will send to the Russian Federation, Mogherini said.

She noted that the word 'ultimatum' caused a number of reactions in the Serbian public, but she also remarked that this kind of vocabulary is not part of the terminology used in the EU.

Addressing Serbian MPs, the Italian minister said that one of the priorities of Italy's chairmanship over the EU lies in the policy of good neighborly relations in the Mediterranean region and other areas where crisis and conflicts occasionally take on dramatic twists, and listed the situation in Ukraine and the downing of the Malaysian plane as the latest example of this.

"There is also the dramatic conflict in Near East, not only the Gaza Strip, but also in Syria and Iraq," Mogherini said and added that blazing tensions are also present in Libya as a country important for Italy both for geographic and political reasons.

Mogherini underscored that this is the reason why it is important for EU members to invest joint efforts during the next six months of Italy's chairmanship, and she added that it is also essential for the Union to conduct talks unanimously and maintain a unified stand on crises.

Europe should assume a unified attitude at all crisis spots, and we need to stand strong and united, Mogherini said.