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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia capable of making up for lost time in European integration process

Belgrade, 27 October 2006

EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Training and Multilingualism Jan Figel said today that there is no doubt Serbia possesses everything necessary to make up for lost time in the process of European integration and become a full member of the EU as soon as possible.

Author: Fonet

Figel held a lecture on the subject “Serbia's European Perspective: from Idea to Realisation”, and stressed that the process of European integration will not be complete until Serbia and other west Balkan countries become part of the EU.

He stated that the EU is getting closer to Serbia, and the fact that Bulgaria and Romania are scheduled to enter the community of European nations in 2007, bears witness to that.

According to Figel, cooperation between the EU and Serbia, despite the temporary halt in negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, has deepened, and this is shown by his visit and visits by other EU commissioners to Serbia.

Speaking on visa regime relaxation for Serbian citizens, Figel said that the mandate for negotiations on the subject should be adopted by the EU Council of Ministers by the end of October this year.

The Commission hopes that the process of negotiations on visa relaxations is fruitful, because we want to conclude the agreement as soon as possible, said Figel, and added that, if everything goes according to plan, the visa regime will include businesspeople, journalists, researchers, students and some other categories.

Figel stressed that the procedure for obtaining a visa for the categories mentioned will be simplified, while diplomats, for example, will not need a visa to visit the EU countries.

According to Figel, visa relaxations are very important because “contacts between individuals are the best way to prepare administrative and institutional contacts”.

Jan Figel’s lecture, held at the Belgrade University Rectorate, was attended among others by Serbian Minister of Education and Sport Slobodan Vuksanovic, head of the European Commission delegation to Serbia Josep Lloveras and Rector of the Belgrade University Dejan Popovic.