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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Dialogue on abolition of visas for Serbian citizens begins

Belgrade, 30 January 2008

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and Vice-President of the European Commission Franco Frattini tonight officially opened dialogue on the abolishment of visas for Serbian citizens travelling to the EU.

Franco Frattini, left, and Bozidar Djelic

Speaking at a press conference, Djelic said that the beginning of talks on visa abolishment is a very important event for all citizens of Serbia and voiced hope that visas will be abolished by the end of 2008 for all Serbian citizens travelling to EU countries. He said that Serbia has started some of the technical preparations to move closer to the EU, such as issuing new passports, identity cards and licence plates in line with the highest European and world standards.

Important laws were adopted, such as the Law on travel documents and the Law on asylum and the agreements on readmission and visa relaxations were signed, the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister said.

He said that 350,000 visas were issued last year and 3,000 petitions for readmission submitted. He said that Serbia's capacity for readmission is larger and that the EU is in no danger of illegal immigration from Serbia.

According to him, Serbia will meet all the conditions for the abolishment of visas by the end of 2008 if democratic forces which advocate a European future win the presidential elections.

According to Djelic, Serbian citizens remember the time when they could travel freely with Yugoslav passports, while today 70% of young people have never been outside the country and are in a much worse position than their parents in this regard.

Frattini said that Serbia is the first country in the West Balkans with whom the European Commission has opened a dialogue on visa abolition, which is a clear political message.

The EU has opened its doors to Serbia, and now it is up to Serbia to decide to use the opportunity or not, said Frattini. He added that the EU could remove visa restrictions for Serbia by the beginning of 2009.

He stressed that it is unimaginable that Serbia does not become a member of the EU, and said that it is impermissible that 70% of Serbia’s youth has never stepped outside the country.

He said that the political agreement on cooperation with the EU which Serbia is expected to sign on February 7 is very important since the word "membership" is mentioned for the first time regarding Serbia.

Slovenian Minister of Interior Dragutin Mate said that all EU interior ministers supported the beginning of negotiations with Serbia.

Djelic, Frattini and Mate pointed out that Serbian Interior Minister Dragan Jocic has made a great contribution to the improvement of border security and liberalisation of the visa regime and wish him a fast recovery from the car accident he had and to return to work with them.