Von Beckerath: Serbian Authorities To Do More To Present Benefits of EU Membership

Andreas von Beckerath (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Andreas von Beckerath said on June 1 that it was of the utmost importance to ensure strong support among Serbian citizens for the EU accession process, which required them to have an objective, fact-based picture of the benefits of membership, adding that in that respect, greater responsibility was expected from the Serbian authorities in combating disinformation.

“We expect the Serbian authorities to do more to promote and present an objective picture of how much EU membership would bring to the citizens of Serbia,” the EU ambassador said at a panel discussion organized by the Center for European Policy (CEP) . He reminded of Serbian media reports about alleged intentions by European countries to carry out a “color revolution” in Serbia. “That has clearly had an impact on public opinion, and we expect the Serbian authorities to assume greater responsibility in combating such disinformation,” von Beckerath said.

The event also presented the results of a recent CEP survey , according to which 39.8 percent of respondents support Serbia’s EU membership, 33.8 percent oppose it and 26.4 percent have a neutral view.

Von Beckerath said he was encouraged by a slight increase in support for membership, but added that “we are far from satisfied with the fact that around 40 percent of the population supports EU accession, given that our offer to Serbia is incredibly attractive, both in terms of economic support and rising living standards, as well as support for reforms and democratic and independent institutions.”

Irish Ambassador Kevin Colgan said it was the government’s job to convince citizens of the importance of the European Union and the benefits that membership brings. He said enlargement would certainly be one of Ireland’s priorities when it takes over the EU presidency on July 1, but added that candidate countries were expected to respect the values on which the Union was built.