President and Vice-President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and Federica Mogherini met today in Brussels with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.
A statement released from the Government reads that Juncker and Brnabic agreed that Serbia needed to follow through with reforms, especially those related to the rule of law.
Juncker encouraged Serbia to continue to play a constructive role in the stability of the Western Balkans and accepted the invitation to visit Belgrade next spring, said the statement from the Prime Minister’s Cabinet.
Following her meeting with Prime Minister Brnabic, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini announced a new phase in EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
FoNet
“I do not expect the qualitative leap to happen from now to December on the results of the dialogue – that would be more of a miracle than a dialogue. But I would expect that the new phase of the dialogue can be at full speed by the end of the year. We are actively working on content, not only on frameworks. And, yes, I see a possibility for this qualitative leap to happen from now to let’s say the end of 2018. That is a long run and I might expect results even before,” Mogherini said. Read Mogherini’s integral remarks here
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that following her two-day visit and a series of meeting with Brussels officials she learned there is a consensus “regarding the opening of new chapters before the year’s end, although the number [of chapters] remains unclear.”
A statement released after the meeting with President Juncker, participated in by Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic as well, reads that the Prime Minister thanked the European Commission for constructive cooperation in the negotiating process.
She said that Serbian Government was implementing reforms on the path to the EU primarily for the sake of its citizens, but pointed out that the number of opened chapters should better match the efforts and results Serbia had achieved in the negotiation process.
The Prime Minister underlined that the Government paid great attention to digitisation and education reform, bearing in mind the importance of innovations for further economic growth and modernisation of the society.
Ana Brnabic added that the region of Western Balkans belonged in the EU and that Serbia, despite sporadic negative developments in the region, remained committed to resolving all outstanding bilateral issues with neighbours through dialogue.
