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Serbia ready to start talks with EU next week
Belgrade,
3 October 2005
On the occasion of the EU Council of Ministers’ decision to start the talks on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia-Montenegro, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said that the doors to the EU were opened for Serbia on October 5, 2000, and that this has been only formally confirmed today.
In a statement to the Beta news agency, Labus said that Serbia is completely prepared to start the talks on the conclusion of the first contract with the EU in a week.
“We interpret today’s decision as an acknowledgement of the progress in indispensable democratic and economic changes that have been made in Serbia, a confirmation given by all 25 EU member states”, Labus said adding that he believes the technical talks on the SAA will begin in November.
“I expect that European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will present a mandate for negotiations in a week. However I do not believe he will bring a draft of the contract, but that the EU will complete it in two or three weeks. Serbia has prepared a draft contract and will negotiate with the EU delegation only about the differences”, the Deputy Prime Minister added.
The Serbian negotiating team, headed by Labus, comprises Director of the Serbian EU Integration Office Tanja Miscevic, ministers of International Economic Relations, Finance and Economy, Milan Parivodic, Mladjan Dinkic and Predrag Bubalo respectively, and advisor to the Serbian Prime Minister Slobodan Samardzic.
Labus said that the negotiating team is ready to cooperate with Montenegro on issues over which the state union has jurisdiction, until, as he said, Montenegro decides whether it will enter the association process with Serbia or on its own.
“We interpret today’s decision as an acknowledgement of the progress in indispensable democratic and economic changes that have been made in Serbia, a confirmation given by all 25 EU member states”, Labus said adding that he believes the technical talks on the SAA will begin in November.
“I expect that European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will present a mandate for negotiations in a week. However I do not believe he will bring a draft of the contract, but that the EU will complete it in two or three weeks. Serbia has prepared a draft contract and will negotiate with the EU delegation only about the differences”, the Deputy Prime Minister added.
The Serbian negotiating team, headed by Labus, comprises Director of the Serbian EU Integration Office Tanja Miscevic, ministers of International Economic Relations, Finance and Economy, Milan Parivodic, Mladjan Dinkic and Predrag Bubalo respectively, and advisor to the Serbian Prime Minister Slobodan Samardzic.
Labus said that the negotiating team is ready to cooperate with Montenegro on issues over which the state union has jurisdiction, until, as he said, Montenegro decides whether it will enter the association process with Serbia or on its own.
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