BRUSSELS – The European Commission on Saturday dismissed claims that it is “mildly modifying” its requirements for Serbia due to Croatia’s blockade of Serbia’s EU accession talks, noting that the conditions for opening Chapter 23 in the talks remain unchanged.
“Our position remains the same,” European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijančič told Tanjug.
Quoting an internal document of the German Federal Foreign Office, Deutsche Welle recently reported that Brussels is “mildly modifying” its position and that it will be accommodating to Croatia in terms of opening Chapter 23 with Serbia.
Croatia is the only EU member state that has refused to give the green light for opening the chapter due to its reservations over a law on Serbia’s regional jurisdiction in trying war crimes, guaranteed parliamentary seats for the Croat minority in Serbia and Serbia’s full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.