Q:
A:
Serbia wants to earn place in EU with reforms
Belgrade,
23 April 2018
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated today at the opening of a plenary session of the National Convention of the European Union that Serbia should not look for shortcuts to the EU, but make essential reforms that will make the life of citizens better.
Speaking at the fifth session of this body in the Serbian parliament, Brnabic said that this, just like any other government, does not have the capacity to make sweeping reforms on its own, but it must be open for organisations of civil society and the economy so that the country could go forward.
Our European path must be essential, not just formal. I strongly believe that there must not be shortcuts on that road. I think that that road is difficult and full of challenges, the biggest of which is to correct the generations-old drawbacks of our society. If we manage to do that, we will be able to catch up with the most developed European societies, the Prime Minister said.
She noted that there are two things that we must not promise to citizens, and the first is that everything will be better all of a sudden, as soon as we become an EU member, that everyone will have a job with excellent salary.
The EU is not a bottomless pit with money. It often represented itself as such to our neighbouring countries and then they entered the EU without having made essential reforms. Then all of a sudden there is no pit with money, or there is money, but the country does not have the capacities to use it. We have to be totally open to citizens. A better life and standard of living depends only on us, and not the EU, the Prime Minister underlined.
Our European path must be essential, not just formal. I strongly believe that there must not be shortcuts on that road. I think that that road is difficult and full of challenges, the biggest of which is to correct the generations-old drawbacks of our society. If we manage to do that, we will be able to catch up with the most developed European societies, the Prime Minister said.
She noted that there are two things that we must not promise to citizens, and the first is that everything will be better all of a sudden, as soon as we become an EU member, that everyone will have a job with excellent salary.
The EU is not a bottomless pit with money. It often represented itself as such to our neighbouring countries and then they entered the EU without having made essential reforms. Then all of a sudden there is no pit with money, or there is money, but the country does not have the capacities to use it. We have to be totally open to citizens. A better life and standard of living depends only on us, and not the EU, the Prime Minister underlined.
-
Belgrade/Budapest, 23 October 2026Good relations with Hungary help Serbia on its European path
-
Belgrade, 23 October 2026Prime Minister Macut at commemoration of 70th anniversary of Hungarian Revolution
-
Belgrade/Budva, 22 October 2026Serbia one of key factors in regional integration
-
Belgrade/Sveti Stefan, 22 October 2026Serbia committed to continuing reforms on path to full EU membership
-
Belgrade, 21 October 2026Prime Minister Macut to attend Berlin Process Leaders’ Summit in Sveti Stefan
-
Kragujevac, 21 October 2026Macut pays tribute to civilians executed during World War II
-
Belgrade, 21 October 2026Importance of maintaining public order, peace on election day
-
Belgrade, 20 October 2026Macut congratulates Luca Niculescu on his election as new Prime Minister of Romania
-
Petrovac na Mlavi/Žagubica, 19 October 2026Strengthening healthcare institutions among government priorities
-
Belgrade/Dalj, 17 October 2026Serbia to continue supporting its people, Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia