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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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Serbia-Montenegro at the gate of real partnership relations with EU

Belgrade/Brussels, 1 July 2005

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said today in Brussels that Serbia-Montenegro is at the beginning of real partnership relations with the European Union, since the talks on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) have gotten off the ground.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Embassy of the Serbia-Montenegrin Mission in Brussels, Labus said that after the signing of the agreement, the quality of relations between Serbia-Montenegro and the EU will change.

Upon the completion of his official visit to Brussels, Labus said that he met with senior EU officials, thus confirming that the EU is very interested in negotiations on the conclusion of the SAA.

Labus said that Serbia must use that favourable attitude of the EU, and added that he expects the European Commission to come up with directives for the negotiations in a week, which is a platform for negotiations that has to be adopted by the EU Council of Ministers.

Labus voiced hope that the adoption of the platform will conclude sooner than is usual in these cases and that the formal beginning of negotiations will begin on October 5.

The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister said that Serbia will prepare its own platform for negotiations by September, with a vision of entering Europe in 2012.

Three important processes are currently taking place in Serbia-Montenegro - the negotiations on the SAA, the evaluation of standards in Kosovo-Metohija and the beginning of talks on the province's future status, and the establishment of a constitutional position of the state union in view of the possible holding of a referendum in Montenegro.

Labus said that these three processes are connected in a way and need to be harmonised through the art of politics and diplomacy.

He reiterated that financial cooperation of Serbia-Montenegro with the European Commission will be developing until the end of 2006 under the CARDS programme and through macro financial support that has already been agreed upon.

The previous agreement on macro financial assistance will finish in September with a €70 million tranche.

Labus said that the Serbian government has a very ambitious goal and that is to complete negotiations on the SAA in nine months. The beginning of negotiations is conditioned by significant progress in the cooperation with the Hague tribunal. He said that he sees no reason that negotiations be postponed because of the Hague issue.

The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the Serbian government is doing its level best to establish full cooperation with the Hague tribunal as soon as possible. He said that that is a technical and not political issue, which he highlighted at the talks in Brussels.

According to Labus, the negotiations on the SAA could be completed in nine months only if they are launched and completed by the state union. The officials of Serbia-Montenegro have to make that decision by late September.

He also said that the referendum in Montenegro was not mentioned in Brussels. Labus said that that topic will most probably be discussed during the visit of EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana to Belgrade.

Labus reiterated the European Commission's position that the referendum in Montenegro would not contribute to the acceleration of accession into the EU. He said that no one denies Montenegro's right to hold a referendum in March, but it is clear that that would hold back not only Montenegro's accession, but Serbia's as well.