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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Acceleration of European integration priority of Serbian government

Belgrade, 31 August 2012

Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Suzana Grubjesic said in an interview to today’s edition of daily Vecernje Novosti after her yesterday’s visit to Brussels that Serbia was not given any new conditions for obtaining the date of beginning of accession negotiations with the EU and that Serbia is ready to fulfil all the conditions set so far.

The Serbian government’s official website brings excerpts from the interview:

On additional requirements for obtaining the date of beginning of accession negotiations: -I received firm assurances that there are no secret requirements and conditions that could show up subsequently.

Did Fule give approximate time when Serbia will be given the date of beginning of negotiations?

– We did not speak at all about deadlines, but about what Serbia needs to do in order to get that date. Fule did not give forecasts on when that might happen. It is up to Serbia to accelerate the process of European integration. This is what we as a government committed to. We expect to get the date as soon as possible, but we are aware that that cannot happen tomorrow. Personally, I will not engage in making guesses regarding deadlines. All estimates will be given in agreement with the EU. It is time to turn words into deeds for the sake of us, citizens of Serbia, and not in order to satisfy Brussels.

On fulfilling the Kosovo condition:

- The essence is to implement all the agreements reached between Belgrade and Pristina, which we are ready to do.

Was there any discussion regarding the regional representation of Pristina?

- Brussels welcomes the initiative of Belgrade to resolve this issue. Serbia will actively defend its national interests when it comes to participation in regional forums, but this is an internal affair of our country. They also welcomed the efforts of President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic to resolve this issue.

When will Belgrade-Pristina dialogue be continued?

- We are preparing a state strategy for the continuation of dialogue. We are preparing a programme and we think that the talks should be continued at the highest political level. Without political dialogue there can be no sustainable, lasting, fair and compromise solution with Pristina. We made that known to Brussels as well.

On the reform of the judiciary:

- That was one of the topics of the meeting. Brussels is following closely our moves in this matter because the negotiations will start with Chapters 23 and 24, which deal with the judiciary and the rule of law.

Was there any discussion regarding disputed privatisations?

- Privatisations were not the subject of the meeting. Brussels welcomed the latest actions by the government in the fight against corruption, as in the case of Agrobanka. They encouraged us to continue with that process.

On new report of the European Commission on Serbia:

- The report is under preparation. Fule said that it will be neither negative nor positive, but rather objective. The new government stands a chance to improve it if it starts working straight away.