Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia must be ready for EU entry by 2012

Belgrade, 2 August 2008

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU integrations Bozidar Djelic said that Serbia must be fully ready for EU entry by 2012 in order to become a member by 2014.

In an interview for today’s edition of the Danas daily, Djelic said that if Serbia joined the EU by 2014, it would enter the European Parliament because 2014 is an election year in the course of which all institutional novelties of the Lisbon Agreement will come into force.

According to him, 2014 is a realistic possibility because experience shows that a year or two of various procedures are usually necessary from the moment a country concludes negotiations and until it becomes an EU member.

Djelic said that EU integrations and the solution to the Kosovo-Metohija issue are two separate processes that should not be linked together, but added that international law is unique therefore the international community should respect it in the case of Kosovo, just as Serbia was asked to do when it came to the Hague Tribunal.

He said he thinks that Serge Brammertz’s report following his visit to Belgrade will not be negative and that the Netherlands and Belgium will unblock the ratification of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA).

Djelic said he expects that at the next ministerial meeting, scheduled for September 15, Brammertz’s stance will be accepted and the implementation of the SAA will begin.

Serbia expects to acquire the EU candidate status by the year’s end, stressed Djelic and added that a delay, which Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic mentioned, might be possible, but that it will not last too long.

According to him, obstruction of Serbian parliament’s work is underrating democracy and represents an attempt to alter the will of the people. Unless it is removed, it may lead to a negative annual report of the Commission in November and other complications pertaining to Serbia’s candidate status, he added.

Djelic said he believes that citizens will endorse the changes which will lead to a more efficient parliament, such as the changes in the parliament’s Rules of Order and strengthening its capacity.

The Deputy Prime Minister recalled that the deadline when old passports will expire has been prolonged for the end of 2009, adding that citizens with those passports will not be able to travel to Europe without visas.