Miscevic: Serbia Could Meet EU Membership Criteria by 2025

Danielsson and Miscevic: Civil Society Plays Important Role in EU Integration

Serbian Minister of EU Integration Tanja Miscevic told the Voice of America in an interview on July 15 that Serbia could meet the criteria for membership in the European Union by 2025.

"That means that the bulk of systemic laws should be harmonized fully by then. All systemic standards should be included in domestic law and the justice system. The thing is that the EU is changing from one day to the next and the range that we need to harmonize with by the time of membership is expanding," said Miscevic, who spent three days in Washington.

There, she met with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar and members of the U.S. Congress' House of Representatives Thomas Kean and Robert Aderholt and participated in events organized by the non-governmental Atlantic Council.

The minister said that another important topic of her meetings was the need for an ongoing strategic dialogue between Serbia and the U.S., because the two countries had a lot more to discuss than just the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. "There is increasingly more room opening up to discuss energy -- as one of the highlights of reforms in Serbia is energy diversification. Then there's digitization, but also a constant need for increased investments from America to Serbia. There is a plenty of room and interest here. The bridge between all of that is the heavy engagement of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia," she said.