Q:
A:
Admission into EU Serbia's strategic goal
Belgrade/New York,
4 October 2013
Prime Minister Ivica Dacic today expressed belief that Serbia will be next, the 29th member of the EU, in the next ten-year period.
Author:
CNN.com
In an interview with TV network CNN Dacic said that Serbia wants to join the EU as soon as possible.
We believe that this is what both Serbia and the EU need, he said.
Asked how he sees the solution for Kosovo issue, Dacic admits that it is not easy to find a solution for Kosovo, especially at this stage where things have gone too far.
A much better and more just solution could have been reached earlier, avoiding both a war and the tensions created in the region. However, this is not a part of our dialogue today, Dacic said.
We would like relations to be normalized, we would like to reach a final solution, he says, adding that Serbia cannot and will not bring its problems with it into the EU.
This is also another reason why we are conducting this open dialogue with Pristina in order to normalize the relationship and solve our problems before accession to the EU, he underscored noting that this does not mean a change in policy when it comes to the issue of recognising the independence of Kosovo.
The Prime Minister underlined that Serbia wants to protect and nurture the old alliances and friendships, such as the ones with Russia and China, reanimate old friendships with countries such as the United Kingdom, United States or France, but also make new friends, friends Serbia may not have had in the past, like Germany.
The Prime Minister said that there is no time to waste, because the economy suffered serious consequences after the breakup of Yugoslavia, during the 1990s.
Unemployment is the biggest problem, Dacic said, adding that the debate on economic reforms in Serbia is meaningless if there is no increase of industrial production, and therefore the standard of living.
The only way to achieve this is to increase foreign investment, he stated.
But that will not happen if Serbia is not part of the modern world, Dacic said.
Dacic said that Serbia does not see the process of accession to the EU only as a financial aid package and the opportunity for the citizens of Serbia to work in other countries across Europe, but primarily as a magnet for foreign investors.
Asked if he thinks whether the free trade agreement with Russia could be a sort of a European gateway to the East, he said that Serbia has always been "East to West and West to East."
We were always somewhere in between. And that is why the EU is the main strategic goal for Serbia, Dacic said.
Dacic said that the majority of Serbian citizens support European integration as they believe that it is in the interest of the country to be part of the developed world.
Serbia should not be prisoner of its own past, but must look to the future, he concluded.
We believe that this is what both Serbia and the EU need, he said.
Asked how he sees the solution for Kosovo issue, Dacic admits that it is not easy to find a solution for Kosovo, especially at this stage where things have gone too far.
A much better and more just solution could have been reached earlier, avoiding both a war and the tensions created in the region. However, this is not a part of our dialogue today, Dacic said.
We would like relations to be normalized, we would like to reach a final solution, he says, adding that Serbia cannot and will not bring its problems with it into the EU.
This is also another reason why we are conducting this open dialogue with Pristina in order to normalize the relationship and solve our problems before accession to the EU, he underscored noting that this does not mean a change in policy when it comes to the issue of recognising the independence of Kosovo.
The Prime Minister underlined that Serbia wants to protect and nurture the old alliances and friendships, such as the ones with Russia and China, reanimate old friendships with countries such as the United Kingdom, United States or France, but also make new friends, friends Serbia may not have had in the past, like Germany.
The Prime Minister said that there is no time to waste, because the economy suffered serious consequences after the breakup of Yugoslavia, during the 1990s.
Unemployment is the biggest problem, Dacic said, adding that the debate on economic reforms in Serbia is meaningless if there is no increase of industrial production, and therefore the standard of living.
The only way to achieve this is to increase foreign investment, he stated.
But that will not happen if Serbia is not part of the modern world, Dacic said.
Dacic said that Serbia does not see the process of accession to the EU only as a financial aid package and the opportunity for the citizens of Serbia to work in other countries across Europe, but primarily as a magnet for foreign investors.
Asked if he thinks whether the free trade agreement with Russia could be a sort of a European gateway to the East, he said that Serbia has always been "East to West and West to East."
We were always somewhere in between. And that is why the EU is the main strategic goal for Serbia, Dacic said.
Dacic said that the majority of Serbian citizens support European integration as they believe that it is in the interest of the country to be part of the developed world.
Serbia should not be prisoner of its own past, but must look to the future, he concluded.
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