Giaufret: It’s Right Time Serbia Committed to Reforms, Explained Benefits from EU Membership to Citizens

EU flags (PHOTO: EUROPEAN UNION/Zucchi Enzo)

Head of EU Delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret in Belgrade on Nov. 5 said that it was now the right time for Serbia to work on reforms and explain to citizens the benefits of EU membership. “We are now very intensely working to have the Western Balkans join the common market even before its accession to the EU,” Giaufret said at a conference titled Belgrade Dialogues on Foreign Policy.

European Integration Minister Tanja Miscevic said that internal reforms were essential for EU accession, while other major issues included normalization of relations with Pristina and aligning with the EU foreign policy. She added that Serbia’s goal was not only to open Cluster 3 as soon as possible, but also all other chapters under all clusters. 

British Ambassador to Serbia Edward Ferguson said that the Western Balkans needed more economy and less politics. He also said that over the past six years no progress had been made in regard to regional cooperation and good neighborly relations, the missing persons or war crimes. The ambassador recalled that next year would be 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement, genocide in Srebrenica and Operation Storm, which was why it was important for the countries in the region to find a common language for to be able to make progress. 

German Ambassador to Serbia Anke Konrad said that the path to EU membership was “a very challenging process,” adding that the Berlin Process was not a replacement for EU membership, but a way for candidate countries to, through cooperation in various fields and with the backing from the EU, step up their reforms, collaboration and their EU accession path. She also said that the issues from the past had remained open and were lacking consensus, noting that it was rather questionable whether there was will to discuss them.