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Opening of EU negotiations to bring Serbia prosperity: PM

Xinhua, December 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Opening of negotiations for Serbia's European Union (EU) accession will help Serbia strengthen its institutions and economy, and will make the country more attractive for investors, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Tuesday.

Vucic made the remarks at a reception organized in Belgrade in honor of the opening of the first chapters of the EU acquis.

Addressing the gathering attended by President Tomislav Nikolic, members of the government, parliament and of the diplomatic core at the building of the Cinematheque in Belgrade, Vucic said that Monday's opening of Chapters 32 and 35 in Brussels presented a turning point for Serbia.

Serbia opened the first of 35 negotiation chapters on Monday in Brussels at an intergovernmental conference, and exchanged with EU negotiating positions concerning Chapter 32 (Financial control) and Chapter 35 (Other issues).

"Our citizens understood well the vision of Serbia that we had and I tell them now that Europe is not an unfulfilled dream but something that can be reached," Vucic said.

He noted that opening of the chapters in fact means to create a normal, decent and well-arranged country with a healthy economy.

"Investors wish to see that their investments are safe, and we are showing them what type of society we wish to become," he explained, adding that investors will come not only from EU countries, but all around the world.

He said the current government managed to stop the declining trend in economic growth and to turn it into positive growth and promised further improvement in years to come.

Chapter 35 will, for Serbia, refer to the dialogue with authorities in Pristina (Capital of Kosovo) and implementation of the Brussels agreement adopted in 2013 which sets course for the EU-mediated dialogue between the two sides and normalization of relations.

EU officials announced in past days that Serbia will in the middle of 2016 also open chapters 23 (Judiciary and fundamental rights) and chapter 24 (Justice, freedom and security). Enditem