Q:
A:
Prompt signing of SAA in Serbia’s interest
Belgrade,
28 January 2008
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic stated last night that it is in Serbia’s interest to sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU as soon as possible.
File photo of Bozidar Djelic
Author:
Tanjug
In a statement to Pink television on the occasion of today’s meeting in Brussels where EU foreign ministers will discuss the signing of the SAA with Serbia, Djelic said that there are several possibilities.
One possibility is that Serbia is given encouragement, and representatives in Brussels say that there will be a discussion on January 30 about removing visa restrictions and state that cooperation with the Hague Tribunal should be successfully concluded so that the SAA could be signed, explained the Deputy Prime Minister.
The other possibility is that Serbia is invited to sign the SAA as early as this week. Yet another possibility is that the EU determines a date, and then waits for the results of the presidential elections on February 3, to see if Serbia has made the choice to join the EU, or not, he said.
Djelic recalled that at the beginning of December, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic, as well as other members of the Serbian government authorised him to sign the SAA on behalf of Serbia, and that has not changed.
He noted that by way of a discussion on the Resolution dealing with Serbia’s territorial integrity it was also agreed that the SAA is fully in accordance with Serbia’s state policy.
The Deputy Prime Minister specified that the preambles of that agreement and Article 155 clearly state Serbia’s sovereignty over its southern province, which is why it is in Serbia’s interest to sign the SAA as soon as possible.
The official policies of Belgrade and the EU claim that Kosovo-Metohija status resolution process, which can only be solved at the UN Security Council, and EU integration are two separate processes, noted Djelic and added that the SAA is primarily a commercial agreement and that isolation is not in Serbia’s interest.
Speaking about visa abolishment, Djelic said that that EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Justice Franco Frattini has been sent an invitation and is expected to come to Serbia this week to officially open the negotiations on this issue.
One possibility is that Serbia is given encouragement, and representatives in Brussels say that there will be a discussion on January 30 about removing visa restrictions and state that cooperation with the Hague Tribunal should be successfully concluded so that the SAA could be signed, explained the Deputy Prime Minister.
The other possibility is that Serbia is invited to sign the SAA as early as this week. Yet another possibility is that the EU determines a date, and then waits for the results of the presidential elections on February 3, to see if Serbia has made the choice to join the EU, or not, he said.
Djelic recalled that at the beginning of December, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic, as well as other members of the Serbian government authorised him to sign the SAA on behalf of Serbia, and that has not changed.
He noted that by way of a discussion on the Resolution dealing with Serbia’s territorial integrity it was also agreed that the SAA is fully in accordance with Serbia’s state policy.
The Deputy Prime Minister specified that the preambles of that agreement and Article 155 clearly state Serbia’s sovereignty over its southern province, which is why it is in Serbia’s interest to sign the SAA as soon as possible.
The official policies of Belgrade and the EU claim that Kosovo-Metohija status resolution process, which can only be solved at the UN Security Council, and EU integration are two separate processes, noted Djelic and added that the SAA is primarily a commercial agreement and that isolation is not in Serbia’s interest.
Speaking about visa abolishment, Djelic said that that EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Justice Franco Frattini has been sent an invitation and is expected to come to Serbia this week to officially open the negotiations on this issue.
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