Bilcik: We Will Make an Effort to Get Political Battles Back in Parliament

Serbian parliament (BETAPHOTO/Ana Slovic)

The European Parliament's new rapporteur for Serbia, Vladimir Bilcik, has said that in a functional democracy political battles should always be waged in the parliament, adding that the European Parliament (EP) will invest all efforts in getting the political battles between the opposition and the ruling parties back in the Serbian parliament, stressing that as one of the main objectives of the inter-party dialogue.

In an interview with daily Blic, Bilcik said that Serbia's path to the EU would be determined by tangible progress in internal reforms and in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and announced that he would visit Serbia in the next few weeks.

"The functioning of democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms have always been and always will be the key determinants of Serbia's progress towards membership of the EU," said Bilcik.
 
At the same time, he added, practical progress needed to be seen in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

"When I say it needs to be unblocked, I mean a new upswing in talks at the highest political level. The European Parliament has asked for a new phase in the dialogue and for acceleration of the pace of the negotiations several times," said Bilcik, referring to his earlier statement that the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue needed to be unblocked.

He further said he hoped "the new political leadership in Pristina will be able to contribute to this process."

To achieve progress between Belgrade and Pristina, good political will must be demonstrated in both cities, said Bilcik, commenting on a statement by possible new Kosovo premier Albin Kurti, that he will not remove the import tariffs unless Serbia abandons its campaign of convincing states to withdraw their recognition of Kosovo's independence.

"Let's all give Mr. Kurti a little time to overcome the rhetoric of the election campaign in Kosovo," said Bilcik.