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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Full EU membership strategic commitment of Serbia

Belgrade/Brussels, 16 November 2021

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selakovic met last night in Brussels with European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Oliver Varhelyi.

Selakovic stated that full EU membership is a strategic commitment of Serbia and underlined that we are dedicated to the maximum degree possible to structural reforms, but that the pace of opening accession negotiations does not correspond to our results.

The Minister assessed as very important that this year’s report from the European Commission on Serbia’s progress in reforms is more positive than the previous one and added that we are encouraged by the recommendation to open clusters 3 and 4.

Selakovic said that we follow with great attention every exchange of opinions regarding the reform of the EU and efforts aimed at its strengthening, however we expect the enlargement process not to be neglected, but rather to run parallel with this reform.

It is important that the region be encouraged on its path to the EU and to achieve new results in the negotiations with candidate countries and future candidates by the end of Slovenia’s current chairmanship of the Council of the EU.

Selakovic underlined that the EU has been the most important foreign trade partner of Serbia for over two decades now and highlighted that we are grateful that we are part of the economic and investment plan and that this is one of the indicators that our region is high on the agenda of the European administration.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that regional cooperation is one of Serbia’s foreign policy goals and that we contribute to peace and stability in the Western Balkans with our engagement, adding that the European Commission has been recognising Serbia’s engagement in regional cooperation for many years.

The pillar of improvement of regional cooperation is economic linking, Selakovic said and pointed to the importance of the “Open Balkans” initiative to that end.

Selakovic and Varhelyi also discussed challenges in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, and Selakovic gave special thanks to the EU for its decision to recognise digital covid certificates issued in Serbia.

Selakovic underlined that this very important decision will make it easier for our citizens to travel to the EU.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs met previously in Brussels with Vice President of the European Commission Vera Jourova and briefed her on reform processes in Serbia over the past few years, first and foremost on economic results that make Serbia one of the fastest-growing European economies.

He also informed Jourova about the course of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, with a special reference to the latest series of one-sided moves by Pristina and pointed to the danger of such behaviour to regional stability, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.