Q:
A:
Serbia makes progress towards EU in 2008
Belgrade,
5 January 2009
Advisor to the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister for EU integration Ksenija Milivojevic said today that Serbia has now practically met all the technical criteria for acquiring EU candidate status.
Ksenija Milivojevic
Speaking in an interview with B92 Radio and Television Milivojevic said that cooperation with the Hague tribunal is a political condition which in the opinion of the Netherlands has not been fully met.
She said that Serbia could apply for candidate status by April, adding that she hopes that Serbia will receive a positive assessment for fulfilling conditions related to the visa liberalization process.
She said that the first EU experts will arrive in Serbia at the beginning of February to judge the work done to meet visa liberalization criteria.
Milivojevic said that a parliamentary session is scheduled for January 12 and it is expected that all laws necessary for the full implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement will be passed soon.
Speaking about Serbia’s inclusion on the Schengen “white list” she said that the situation is not bad, recalling that the European Commission report in November stated that Serbia and Macedonia received the best appraisal for meeting criteria.
She said that Serbia needs to adopt a few more strategies to be included on the Schengen “white list”, adding that these are strategies to be adopted not by parliament but by the government and it is expected that they will be adopted in the first half of this year.
Serbia is expected to speed up the process of replacing old travel documents with new ones, because only new passport holders will be able to travel without a visa, said Milivojevic, stressing that Serbia must finish this process by the end of 2009.
She said that 2008 was not a setback for EU integration because several important steps were taken.
She said that Serbia could apply for candidate status by April, adding that she hopes that Serbia will receive a positive assessment for fulfilling conditions related to the visa liberalization process.
She said that the first EU experts will arrive in Serbia at the beginning of February to judge the work done to meet visa liberalization criteria.
Milivojevic said that a parliamentary session is scheduled for January 12 and it is expected that all laws necessary for the full implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement will be passed soon.
Speaking about Serbia’s inclusion on the Schengen “white list” she said that the situation is not bad, recalling that the European Commission report in November stated that Serbia and Macedonia received the best appraisal for meeting criteria.
She said that Serbia needs to adopt a few more strategies to be included on the Schengen “white list”, adding that these are strategies to be adopted not by parliament but by the government and it is expected that they will be adopted in the first half of this year.
Serbia is expected to speed up the process of replacing old travel documents with new ones, because only new passport holders will be able to travel without a visa, said Milivojevic, stressing that Serbia must finish this process by the end of 2009.
She said that 2008 was not a setback for EU integration because several important steps were taken.
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