Vucic: Decision on Methodology After We Study Novelties in Negotiation Process

Aleksandar Vucic (Photo: Presidency of Serbia / Dimitrije Goll)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated on Feb. 6 that, in the forthcoming period, Serbia would study the new methodology of the European Union accession process and, after that, decide on whether to accept it or continue the negotiations according to the previously signed negotiation framework, as a country that has already progressed significantly in the process.

After the meeting with the European commissioner for enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, in Belgrade, Vucic said that his sympathies were on the side of the new methodology, because it enabled the using of positive outcomes of the negotiations as soon as a particular cluster is closed.

"In simple terms, although I went to Brussels for the (opening of) chapters on several occasions, I you were to ask me which chapters we opened and which we closed – I could not list them all. In this way, everything is divided into six clusters which are opened and closed according to a strict methodology. And then, when one cluster is finished, you turn to the other, while the people benefit from the one that is closed," Vucic said.

He stated that he had an exceptionally good meeting with Varhelyi and that he informed him about the "mini-Schengen initiative." Vucic said that he presented the idea according to which Serbia, together with some EU members, would become a part of the Schengen agreement, which would be of immense importance for the country and its people.