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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Accelerating EU integration, interior reform

Belgrade, 21 August 2012

Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Suzana Grubjesic stated that unemployment, poverty, corruption and a huge minus in the state budget are problems requiring urgent solutions, which is the first and foremost task of this government.

Author: Tanjug

In an interview to Svedok newspaper, prior to her first visit to Brussels, scheduled for 30 August, Grubjesic stressed that without the European path the solution to these problems would be very difficult to reach because this path is not simply about fulfilling Brussels’s conditions, but about insisting on interior reforms because the survival of our economy and society as a whole depend on them.

She noted that institutions in Brussels are currently on their summer break, so it is wrong to assume that there are fewer talks and meetings with our officials than before.

She recalled that before the break, our state officials visited Brussels and that EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule was also present at President Tomislav Nikolic’s inauguration ceremony.

Grubjesic observed that she will meet with Commissioner Fule in Brussels, adding that she has also requested meetings with other officials and their replies are to arrive within days.

The meeting with Fule is important because of the annual report on progress, to be published on 10 October, which assesses everything Serbia has achieved in a year and states what is yet left to be done.

Grubjesic noted that her goals on the current position are the same as those of the government: accelerating EU integration and acquiring the date for the beginning of accession talks as soon as possible.

Speaking about the relation to the EU, the Deputy Prime Minister stressed that we all desire a partner relation, noting that in such a relation there is no room for obedience or condescension, but there is definitely room for insisting on the protection of our state and national interests.

She also underlined that we cannot call blackmail that which the EU has demanded from all states – to become a country with the rule of law, successfully fighting corruption and crime, a country of full-fledged democracy, efficient market economy and similar.

We all want a normal, decent and ordered Serbia and the European insistence on interior reforms is the greatest benefit of the entire EU integration process, she observed.

Asked whether she was given any condition regarding Kosovo-Metohija after she assumed her duties, Grubjesic reiterated that she did not, that the conditions are well-known to all and that they were formulated by the European Council in the conclusions of last year’s December summit.