Serbia Not Against New Methodology, but Needs to Know How its Progress is Valued

Jadranka Joksimovic (Beta/Milan Obradovic)

Serbia hasn't decided yet whether to continue the EU accession process under a new methodology, because its European partners are yet to explain clearly what the new methodology entails, the Serbian minister in charge of the country's accession to the European Union (EU), Jadranka Joksimovic, said in an interview with the Radio Free Europe (RFE).

"Serbia is not against the new methodology, but we need to know first how the progress Serbia has made so far will be valued. We want to know if the country is opening nearly all of the clusters at once, since some chapters have been opened in almost all of them," Joksimovic said.

The minister added that it would be easier for Serbia to decide once it got the answer, noting that the question went to her peers in Europe and the European Commission's officials, and that there's no clear deadline for Serbia to decide.

The EU College of Commissioners passed on Feb. 5 a new accession methodology for North Macedonia and Albania. Serbia and Montenegro, the furthest ahead in the process, are allowed to choose if they wished to go on under the same methodology or shift to the new procedure, opening and closing six clusters instead of 35 chapters, which have been included in the clusters.