Palmer: Serbia Has Much More to Do in the Areas of Rule of Law, Freedom of the Media

Mathew Palmer Beolgrade (Beta/Presedency of Serbia/Dimitrije Goll)

Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S.Department of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Palmer, said that the normalization of relations with Kosovo would open room for Serbia to make progress in its EU accession process, but that Belgrade had yet a lot to do to improve the rule of law and the freedom of the media.

In a May 22 interview with the Voice of America, Palmer said that Serbia enjoyed full U.S. support in its accession to the EU, but that the democratization of Serbian society was still leaving much to be desired.

When asked if Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was sincere when he said he wanted to see Serbia in the Union, Palmer said he believed "he is absolutely serious about it."

"I think that Vucic would like to see Serbia make progress on the path to the EU and become a full-fledged member. It's his vision of Serbia's future, and that is also the vision of the Serbian public, for the greater part, and that is also how the U.S. sees Serbia's future. We are working closely with Serbia as a partner and as a friend, to help it carry out the necessary changes," the U.S. diplomat said, adding that the dialogue with Kosovo was part of Serbia's EU accession, but that "there's much more to be done in terms of democratization and the freedom of the media."