BRUSSELS – Serbia is well-positioned as a frontrunner in European integration and will very soon become a part of the European family, EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said in Brussels late Tuesday.
After a meeting with Serbian PM Ana Brnabić, Hahn thanked Serbia for its key role in regional stability.
He said he was very pleased Brnabić’s first visit was one to Brussels as it indicated her commitment and the importance she attached to the relations with the EU.
A lot of work has been done, and it will soon pay off through the opening of new negotiation chapters, Hahn said.
Serbia is making fast progress to seize the moment that came after the speech by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that clearly signalled the EU’s unequivocal support for enlargement in the Western Balkans, Hahn said.
Tajani: Efforts underway for Serbia to join EU
Efforts are underway for Serbia to become one of the next members of the EU, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said after a meeting with Serbian PM Ana Brnabić in Brussels on Wednesday.
Tajani announced he would visit Serbia in January and that Serbian and European enterprises would meet to enhance the Serbia-EU business cooperation.
Stability and prosperity in the Western Balkans are common goals of the European Parliament and the countries in the region, he said.
I am convinced the future will be one of enlargement – a prosperous future within the EU, Tajani said.
Serbia’s European approach has the European Parliament’s full support, he said.
Serbia is making good progress towards EU integration and I am expecting new negotiating positions by the end of the year, Tajani said.
Brnabić: For EU, Serbia a candidate for new enlargement wave
The EU sees Serbia as a sincere and responsible partner and a candidate for its next wave of enlargement, Serbian PM Ana Brnabić said in Brussels Wednesday.
Brnabić said her two-day visit to Brussels was aimed at sending a clear signal that European integration was Serbia’s top political priority.
“The efforts of the Republic of Serbia have been fully recognised in Brussels. Serbia is counted on as a sincere and responsible partner in European integration, and all I am hearing is that Serbia is a candidate that is seriously counted on for the next wave of enlargement,” Brnabić said.
Mogherini expects major progress in dialogue in 2018
EU foreign policy and security chief Federica Mogherini said Wednesday she was expecting major progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in 2018, adding that the two sides were now working on identifying the contents, rhythm, pace and format of its new phase.
After meeting with Serbian PM Ana Brnabić in Brussels, Mogherini said she expected the dialogue to be in full swing by end-year, adding that she saw a possibility of a qualitative step forward happening by the end of 2018, or perhaps sooner.
Brnabić said she supported the idea of the dialogue continuing at presidential level, adding that, as PM, she herself was not shunning the dialogue or her own role in defending the interests of the citizens and the state.
Serbia’s future is in the EU – that is the direction in which Serbia and the EU are working “consistently and stubbornly,” Mogherini said.