Q:
A:
Government will not give up Kosovo, EU integration
Belgrade,
5 August 2008
Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU integration and Minister of Science and Technological Development Bozidar Djelic stated today that Serbia will not be blackmailed over EU membership and reiterated that the government will never give up on Kosovo or its EU integration process.
Author:
rts.rs
Appearing in a show on Radio Television Serbia, Djelic said that Serbia is doing its part and therefore expects the EU to do the same and grant Serbia candidate status, if not before the end of this year, then in the first half of the next.
Serbia should intensify its diplomatic activities, stressed Djelic and added that the country is fighting in two ways – peacefully and with arguments.
Just as Serbia is expected to respect international law when it comes to The Hague Tribunal, Serbia expects the international community to do the same when it comes to Kosovo-Metohija, he said.
He confirmed that Belgrade will ask the International Court of Justice to interpret the legality of Kosovo’s proclamation of independence, adding that it expects the issue to be brought up at the UN September session.
Serbia will not stop defending its territorial integrity, it will not be blackmailed for the sake of EU integration, nor will it let anyone ask it to trade-in its southern province, stressed Djelic.
Speaking about EU integration, Djelic said he expects that by the year’s end Serbian citizens will travel to Europe without visas.
He explained that this is revolves around laws which should have been adopted last year and warned that unless they are passed, Serbia will not be on the white Schengen list.
Speaking about Serbian parliament, he said that this is the place where the opposition controls the government. He added that a situation in which parliament is prevented from work for three days and citizens are unable to hear the pros and cons of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement can only be called a destructive policy.
The European Commission will draft a report in November and by the end-September Serbia must do a lot of things in order to be mentioned in that report, he said adding that if there are lots of reforms and progress in that report, Serbia will easily acquire EU candidate status.
According to him, the Serbian government priorities in the upcoming period are the adoption of 34 laws and rebalancing the budget, so that costs for Kosovo-Metohija can be covered and a projection for the 2009 budget made.
One of the priorities is a 10% increase in pensions before end-September, as well as that by the end of 2009 pensions reach 70% of the average salary, explained Djelic and noted that Serbia will face a number of unpopular reforms.
He said that the 2009 budget must show that public spending is gradually decreasing and announced restructuring of certain sections of the state.
Monetary policy is currently a crucial element for fighting inflation, he said and noted that it is not good if the dinar becomes much stronger in relation to the euro because that would affect Serbia’s exports.
Budget rebalancing and the budget itself must not be inflationary, there will have to be enough funds in the budget for assistance to agriculture so that the state can ensure food at favourable prices, said the Deputy Prime Minister and added that Serbia needs three times more supermarkets and hypermarkets because those are modern forms of trade which provide lower prices for buyers.
He said that despite numerous problems, economic growth in the first half of 2008 stood at 7% or 8% according to preliminary estimates.
He also noted the importance of energy efficiency and the fact that parliament finally ratifies the energy agreement with Russia.
When the Pancevo and Novi Sad refineries become more modern, oil processing will be cheaper. The price of fuel in Serbia is 12 dinars higher than it should be because our refineries are inefficient, he noted.
He also announced that on August 7 he will deliver 50 new passports to Serbian citizens.
Serbia should intensify its diplomatic activities, stressed Djelic and added that the country is fighting in two ways – peacefully and with arguments.
Just as Serbia is expected to respect international law when it comes to The Hague Tribunal, Serbia expects the international community to do the same when it comes to Kosovo-Metohija, he said.
He confirmed that Belgrade will ask the International Court of Justice to interpret the legality of Kosovo’s proclamation of independence, adding that it expects the issue to be brought up at the UN September session.
Serbia will not stop defending its territorial integrity, it will not be blackmailed for the sake of EU integration, nor will it let anyone ask it to trade-in its southern province, stressed Djelic.
Speaking about EU integration, Djelic said he expects that by the year’s end Serbian citizens will travel to Europe without visas.
He explained that this is revolves around laws which should have been adopted last year and warned that unless they are passed, Serbia will not be on the white Schengen list.
Speaking about Serbian parliament, he said that this is the place where the opposition controls the government. He added that a situation in which parliament is prevented from work for three days and citizens are unable to hear the pros and cons of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement can only be called a destructive policy.
The European Commission will draft a report in November and by the end-September Serbia must do a lot of things in order to be mentioned in that report, he said adding that if there are lots of reforms and progress in that report, Serbia will easily acquire EU candidate status.
According to him, the Serbian government priorities in the upcoming period are the adoption of 34 laws and rebalancing the budget, so that costs for Kosovo-Metohija can be covered and a projection for the 2009 budget made.
One of the priorities is a 10% increase in pensions before end-September, as well as that by the end of 2009 pensions reach 70% of the average salary, explained Djelic and noted that Serbia will face a number of unpopular reforms.
He said that the 2009 budget must show that public spending is gradually decreasing and announced restructuring of certain sections of the state.
Monetary policy is currently a crucial element for fighting inflation, he said and noted that it is not good if the dinar becomes much stronger in relation to the euro because that would affect Serbia’s exports.
Budget rebalancing and the budget itself must not be inflationary, there will have to be enough funds in the budget for assistance to agriculture so that the state can ensure food at favourable prices, said the Deputy Prime Minister and added that Serbia needs three times more supermarkets and hypermarkets because those are modern forms of trade which provide lower prices for buyers.
He said that despite numerous problems, economic growth in the first half of 2008 stood at 7% or 8% according to preliminary estimates.
He also noted the importance of energy efficiency and the fact that parliament finally ratifies the energy agreement with Russia.
When the Pancevo and Novi Sad refineries become more modern, oil processing will be cheaper. The price of fuel in Serbia is 12 dinars higher than it should be because our refineries are inefficient, he noted.
He also announced that on August 7 he will deliver 50 new passports to Serbian citizens.
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