Head of EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport said today that the goal of negotiating Chapter 35 was not the recognition of Kosovo but a comprehensive normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina relations.
In his appearance on B92 TV, Davenport said that the Chapter 35 was “the key concern for Serbia,” adding that the rest of the chapters “also carried a lot of importance.”
Appearing in Kaziprst, and asked whether Chapter 35 could be the one to put Serbia in Turkish position, Davenport said he could not see it happen.
“This chapters deals with the implementation of Serbia’s commitments within dialogue with Pristina and the normalisation of relations is a clear common goal of all EU Member States,” Davenport said.
According to him, Chapter 35 cannot prevent other chapters from opening; as a matter of fact, it represents an opportunity “to fully control the progress in this area.”
Asked about the date of opening of the chapters 23 and 24, Head of EU Delegation said it was “very important” to open them as soon as possible because they deal with “serious things such as justice reform, fight against corruption and discrimination, protection of human rights.”
“Opening of the first chapters is an important point for both Serbia and EU enlargement policy. We have now entered a new phase when it comes to implementation of laws with regard to chapters 32 and 35 and the next step is the meeting in Brussels next week, dedicated to implementation of next steps,” said Davenport.
Commenting on the state of media freedom in Serbia, Davenport said he would not say it “stagnated” but he added that he would not describe it as progress either.
“It is much too early to assess the effects of the implementation of the new media laws and strategy. It is highly important to achieve full implementation of laws. European Commission Report states very clearly that it is necessary to create better conditions for full media freedom, but at the same time everyone is aware about what needs to be done in order to make progress in this area,” Ambassador Davenport said.
Speaking about cooperation with Serbian Government, he said that he personally head “a rather close cooperation with Prime Minister and all the other ministers and their offices. We meet regularly, and I am the first ambassador to take part in a Government session dealing with European integration. Another good signal is the fact that we marked the opening of chapters together last Tuesday in Belgrade. This close cooperation between European Union/the Mission and the Government will be of great importance for further integration,” said Ambassador Davenport to B92 TV.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence
