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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia’s goal candidate status in 2009

Belgrade/Brussels, 24 September 2008

First Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Ivica Dacic and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn stated in Brussels today that they hope that Serbia will acquire EU candidate status during the next year.

Ivica Dacic, left, and Olli Rehn

Author: Fonet

Speaking to the press following a meeting with Rehn, Dacic said that he expects that legislative and political activity in Serbia will lead not only to liberalisation of the visa regime during the next year, but also to acquisition of candidate status.

He stressed that besides safeguarding national integrity and sovereignty, EU integration is one of Serbia’s national interests, adding that legislative activity in Serbia during the next months will be accelerated to achieve this goal.

Rehn stated that the European Commission will provide full support to Serbia in efforts to acquire candidate status during the next year.

Serbia has a bright future in the EU as long as it fulfills necessary conditions and implements required reforms. If all goes according to expectations, Serbia will get candidate status during 2009. This is our joint aim and I can assure you that the European Commission will offer full support for achieving it, said Rehn.

Dacic met today in Brussels with European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot and stressed that Serbian parliament will adopt laws necessary for visa liberalisation before November, when the European Commission will assess Serbia’s progress for the first time.

He reiterated that Serbia’s goal is to be included on the White Schengen List in 2009, but stressed that Serbia must finish its part of the job, which primarily means it has to adopt the Law on border control, Law on foreigners and Law on the protection of personal information.

Serbia will make efforts to adopt these laws before November, when the European Commission will assess Serbia’s improvement, said Dacic and added that as soon as the laws are adopted, visa liberalisation will be achieved.

He also recalled that on September 18, Serbia signed the agreement with the European Police Office (EUROPOL), while the agreement with the EU Borders Control Agency (FRONTEX) is to be signed in November.

He reiterated that Serbia does not recognise Kosovo’s independence and accordingly does not accept new Kosovo passports.

According to Dacic, Serbian authorities will nullify the stamps of the so called state of Kosovo on the travel documents of foreign citizens travelling through Serbian territory and replace them with stamps of the Republic of Serbia.

He said that attempts to reinterpret the Dayton Agreement should cease and the existence of Republika Srpska should not be made subject to controversy.

Serbia clearly supports the Dayton Agreement, but seeks for others to respect it too, said Dacic.

He said that the Dayton Agreement cannot be revised without the consent of all three nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and added that Serbia is a guarantor of the agreement and it is normal that we are concerned for Republika Srpska.