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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia may get EU candidate status 2009

Belgrade, 13 October 2008

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic stated that Serbia may get EU candidate status next year already, as well as enter the white Schengen list.

Vuk Jeremic

Author: Tanjug

In an interview to the Tanjug news agency, Jeremic said he believes that 2009 will the year in which Serbia will overcome the largest political obstacle in the institutional sense on its road to full EU membership, and that is acquiring the candidate status.

Once the status is granted, the rest is up to the candidate country that has to fulfil the precisely defined Copenhagen membership criteria. I believe Serbia has the capacity to set a record in the speed with which it will fulfil the criteria. We have already set one record when we negotiated the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) within only 13 months, said Jeremic.

He recalled that never before has one candidate country concluded talks on the SAA in less than 13 months.

I believe we have reasons to be optimistic. Once there are no more political obstacles, but simply bureaucratic ones, I believe we will quickly manage to surpass them, said the Minister.

Jeremic said that the Serbian government is not surprised that the implementation and ratification of the SAA in EU countries has not yet begun, adding that this does not intervene with Serbia’s plans.

We know that EU enlargement is one of the most difficult and complex issues. We have the support of a huge majority of EU countries. Out of the 27 members, 26 think that Serbia’s road to EU membership should be accelerated, said Jeremic.

Having noted that the EU makes decisions through a consensus, Jeremic said it is necessary to persuade the remaining opposing country to help unfreeze the SAA’s implementation.

I believe we will manage to attain this consensus. With our diplomatic activities we have managed to ensure the support of 26 countries and now only the Netherlands remains with its interior problems related with cooperation with the Hague tribunal and the specific case of General Ratko Mladic and Srebrenica, said the Minister.

He stressed that Serbia will continue fulfilling its domestic and international obligations on cooperation with the tribunal.

Serbia’s second priority will be inclusion in the white Schengen list. I think that 2009 will be the year when Serbia will achieve this great success and prove that it is welcome in Europe, that its citizens are citizens of Europe, said Jeremic adding that Serbian citizens will then be able to feel as if they were already in the EU.

As the greatest success of his Ministry so far Jeremic listed the adoption of Serbia’s resolution at the UN General Assembly asking the International Court of Justice for advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo-Metohija’s unilaterally declared independence.

Our victory at the General Assembly is the most important event in foreign policy. Serbia has achieved a monumental victory – the adoption of its resolution in the integral form, concluded Jeremic.