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 will make huge progress towards EU candidate status in 2010

Belgrade/Paris, 26 December 2009

Deputy Prime Minister for EU integration Bozidar Djelic said today in Paris that the months before visa liberalisation clearly show that Serbia can achieve its goals with EU support.

From left: Bozidar Djelic, Dusan Batakovic and Jacques Barrot

Author: Fonet

Djelic, who is returning to Belgrade tonight with the winners of the "Europe for Everyone" project after an eight day trip to the EU and visits to Brussels, Rome Berlin and Paris, said that large-scale reforms and a number of challenges still lie ahead of Serbia.

I am not trying to say that everything will be easy, but I would like us to recall that at the end of this journey Serbia can win if it has faith in itself, if it does not give up at the first obstacle and if it keeps finding new allies, Djelic said.

He voiced his belief that in 2010 Serbia will make huge progress towards candidate status, adding his hope that this time next year it will either celebrate that status or be very close to that goal.

For his support to Serbia on its EU road, Djelic presented European Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot with an icon of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of travellers, while Serbian Ambassador to France Dusan Batakovic presented him his book on Kosovo-Metohija in French.

Vice-President Barrot said Serbia will need five to seven years to meet the required standards for EU membership.

Barrot, who is responsible for justice, freedom and security in the European Commission, said that Serbia should look forward to the upcoming decade, noting that visa liberalisation is only the first glimpse of a future in the EU.

We want Europe to include Serbia, Barrot said at the celebration held at the Serbian Culture Centre in Paris.

Barrot congratulated the Serbian authorities for managing to meet all visa liberalisation standards in a very short deadline, adding that they still have a lot to do to fulfil all the conditions for EU candidacy.

It is very fortunate that you have someone like President Boris Tadic at the head of your state and a Deputy Prime Minister such as Bozidar Djelic, because they are ready to give their best to achieve the goal, Barrot said, noting that in the upcoming decade Serbia should become the centre of democracy, peace and stability in the region.

The first 50 citizens, who left Serbia a week ago, one minute after visa restrictions were removed, ended their visit to the EU with a stay in Paris, where they visited the Louvre Museum.