Remarks by Johannes Hahn following his meeting with Ivica Dačić, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of Serbia:

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Once again, we had a very constructive meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of Serbia Ivica Dačić and I really want to welcome him. I don’t know how many meetings we had already, also here in the Berlaymont.

We shared the same view that there should be no unnecessary delay in the accession process; this means that the European Union must deliver when Serbia meets requirements and to keep bilateral issues aside. But this also means that Serbia needs to do its job because the base of negotiations depends on the implementation of reforms in particular in the areas of rule of law and the economy.

People of Serbia, especially the young ones aspire to have a prosperous future at home and this can only be granted with reforms. This is widely demanded and this is what they deserve. The base of negotiations of course also depends on progress on the Dialogue with Pristina and I hope that both sides will show a constructive approach and deliver further tangible results.

But may I say I am very confident that we will see the opening of new further chapters very soon and every opportunity should be used to show this process, to keep the momentum, the dynamics. And I would also like to commend Serbia for having showed leadership when it comes to regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations and I would like to take the opportunity to express my disappointment and may I say annoyance about inflammatory statements from certain leaders in the region, such statements which can be considered interference in neighbouring countries and implying changing borders are not acceptable and more than unnecessary and counterproductive.

Thanks a lot!

Questions and answers

Do you see the statement from Albanian leaders as kind of political pressure on the EU regarding the process of integration, which is stuck with Albania and Kosovo and on the other side why is there such a big gap between Belgrade and Pristina, we saw the last meeting here in Brussels, even technical one only in February this year.

First, if somebody believes that such kind of statement might put pressure on us, it would be a big mistake, because this can easily backfire to the sender of such a message and one should be aware the Europeans have strong interest to have peace, stability and prosperity in the region. This can only be achieved via a good neighbourly relations if everybody work together contributing to the further development in the region, in principle this has been shown in the meeting of the Prime Ministers in Sarajevo, this should guide everybody, every day and that is why I can only urge everybody to abstain from this kind of rhetoric and by the way there have been several times decisions  and conclusions amongst the leaders and countries to support each other in their aim to join the European Union and this should be respected, and not only respected but also pursued by everybody.

Second, I think they will resume as soon as possible the Dialogue. During the campaign phase, it is rather unrealistic to have this kind of discussions and negotiations, I think this is understandable, but once again, I think it is in all our interest to have this Dialogue and to have very soon the next meeting.

Your expectations to the Western Balkans Summit of this summer in Italy?

We expect interest and stocktaking in particular in the area of connectivity to identify concrete projects, but I think a very important point for the meeting, interest will be to agree fundamentally on this concept of a common market for the region, there has been a principle decision in Sarajevo and we have been tasked to move forward with a more precise idea on what should be covered by this common market concept and how possible roadmap to achieve it could look like.

What are your expectations on the post-election situation in Serbia?

What we have said immediately: congratulation to the incoming President for his victory. I was asked several times about the consequences. I think the Constitutional framework is clear, it was several times expressed also by the incoming President, who is respecting this constitutional framework and not intending to change it. And I think it is important now to have the reshuffle of the government. The political situation in the country is clear, and for us it is important to have, in political terms, a stable situation and as it was said by the Deputy Prime Minister, it is important to continue the cooperation: a lot of further reforms are necessary. It’s about further economic development using all the opportunities and keeping the momentum. So I hope that there will be very soon the necessary reshuffle in the government and this is important for instance also in terms of the Dialogue and many other activities to have now clear decisions on how the future government will look like and on how the cooperation with the future President will be, but once again I am very confident that the kind of cooperation, the level of cooperation we have seen in the past couple of years will continue and can even be further improved.

On the demonstrations in Belgrade since the elections, going on every day?

It is the right of everybody and this is something we expect for a candidate country that it is possible to express, everyone should have the opportunity to express his views, his concerns and is able to protest, to demonstrate if it’s done in a peaceful way – it is ok. And I think it is the task of the authorities in the country to react in an adequate manner to discuss this issue with the people, because one should have an interest that, there is a joint move towards a European perspective and in that respect I suppose that the authorities are in touch with the demonstrators and are trying to discuss and solve out things.

Link to the video:
https://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I137367