Varhelyi: No EU Without Good Neighborly Relations with Everyone in the Region

Oliver Varhelyi (Photo: Beta / Milos Miskov)

The European commissioner for enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, said on Feb. 7 that Serbia could not join the EU until it had a functioning market economy and until it had good neighborly relations with everyone in the region, including Kosovo.

In an interview with Prva TV, when asked what that actually meant regarding Kosovo, Varhelyi replied that it had to be "a long-term peaceful solution." It is up to the actors to decide what that will be. They need to sit at a common table and formulate solutions, he said, adding that he understood that it was a delicate issue and that the taxes imposed by Kosovo were blocking the resumption of the talks.

Varhelyi also said that Serbia was one of the favorites to join the EU and that it was up to its government to decide whether it would continue negotiating the way it had done so far, by opening chapters, or if it would accept the new methodology that envisaged adjustment through the fulfillment of clusters.

He did not wish to voice his own opinion on what would be better for Serbia.

Serbia is not obligated to join the new methodology, because it has already gone far in the negotiations. That is up to the Serbian government to decide. There are numerous elements to be taken into account, he said.

Speaking about his Feb. 5 meeting with the Serbian opposition in Belgrade, Varhelyi said that he had conveyed to them the stance that all political actors needed to be in the parliament.

The message to the opposition is to create a common minimum and to participate in elections so as to be a part of the parliament, he said, adding that he had seen a measure of openness in some interlocutors and positive tendencies regarding interparty dialogue, which he said he hoped would continue.