Off the wire
• Huawei announces establishment of European Institute  • Cuban doctors, nurses to aid victims of Nepal quake  • Senior UN official warns of "widespread and systematic" sexual violence in Syria, Iraq  • Pele recovering in hospital after prostate surgery  • Roundup: Canadian stock market rebounds on telecommunication rally  • UN Yemen envoy visits Saudi Arabia to revive peace talks  • EU calls for transparency in administration employment of Albania  • American homegrown IS supporters hail from 19 states: think tank  • 1st LD Writethru: Britain's Conservatives lead in general election with no overall majority: exit poll  • Brazil residents request 5.2 million Olympic tickets  
You are here: 　 Home

Serbia's EU path depends on dialogue with Kosovo: EU commissioner

Xinhua, May 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Progress in the dialogue between Serbia and its southern province Kosovo could speed up the process of Serbia's European integration, a European Union (EU) official said here on Thursday.

Johannes Hahn, European commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement, made the remarks after meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

"It is of absolute importance that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is continued and to have concrete results. If that becomes the case, I think it is not impossible that we could start opening chapters this year," Hahn told journalists at a joint press conference with Vucic.

Vucic said that Serbia would like to open the initial chapters in June or September but the date completely depends on Brussels and EU member countries.

"We will try to obtain the trust of institutions in Brussels and EU member countries by working responsibly," he said, praising achievements of the Serbian government in the field of economic and other reforms.

"We did not get a single remark on the economic reforms, while one important issue around Kosovo remains to be solved, and Serbia is not to be held responsible and blamed for that, and that issue is the establishment of the Community of Serb municipalities," Vucic said.

He explained that this means that six out of 15 points of the EU-mediated Brussels agreement between Serbia and Kosovo signed in 2013 are not fulfilled.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008, Serbia categorically refuses to recognize its independence.

At the end of the conference, Vucic officially handed to Hahn the action plans for Chapter 23 (Judiciary and fundamental rights) and Chapter 24 (Justice, freedom and security) that Serbia prepared.

Hahn, who is visiting the region about the future of EU integration, said earlier Thursday that the EU member countries will start the discussion about opening the initial chapters with Serbia, after Serbia finishes its action plans and sends them to the European Commission.

At the conference he said that EU members insisted that Chapters 23 and 24 should be opened at the beginning of the negotiations because "there is a clear connection between the rule of law and attractiveness of one country for investments". Endit