Roundup: Integration of Serbia, Balkans, remains EU's key strategic priority: Mogherini

Visiting European Union (EU) foreign policy chief said the EU is committed to receiving new member countries and will work together with Serbia to maintain regional stability and create better business environment by stimulating regional cooperation.

Federica Mogherini, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, made the statement at a press conference following her meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

Mogherini said she carried the same message to all countries on her ongoing regional tour -- that their integration was the key strategic priority of the EU and that regional stability and cooperation among Balkan countries was integral to their economic development.

"From our side, the commitment is full. I am sure this (EU integration) will bring benefits not only to all Serbian people, but also to all EU citizens," she stressed.

Mogherini, also a vice-president of the European Commission, said regional stability of the Balkans was the strategic interest of the EU, "not because of geopolitical games, but because peace in the Balkans is peace in Europe."

"We have faced, in recent times, and we might face in the times to come, that this has been called into question. The EU is determined to work with all actors, starting from Serbia and all the others in the Western Balkans to guarantee that peace in the region becomes an irreversible achievement for all of us," she said.

Mogherini said economic cooperation could help the region achieve peace, as it had done in the EU in the 60 years since its creation.

"Trading with each other, relating from an economic but also a connections point of view is much more convenient for your people than fighting each other and escalating your rhetoric," she said.

Meanwhile, Vucic said Serbia would firmly remain on its EU path, pointing out that 67 percent of its trade was with the EU while another 20 percent was with regional countries that were likewise on the EU path.

"EU is the most important destination for us, it seems to me, and I think that much can still be improved in our relations...I think that many things can also be done to improve the economic environment, first of all our judiciary where we need support and help from our European colleagues, and I would say that the biggest challenge for us is to jointly maintain the regional stability," Vucic said.

He added that instability in the region would harm Serbia's good economic results and asked for the EU's aid in maintaining peace, but also asked that a similar EU message extend to other Balkan countries as well.

"What bothers us, if I can be completely sincere, is the fact that often there are different standards towards Serbia and Serbs than the others," he said, referencing tensions with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and authorities in Pristina. Endit