Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, Ambassador Michael Davenport met with the students of the Mathematical Grammar School in Belgrade on Thursday, February 12th, to whom he told that Serbia on its way to EU needs people with knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit.
Addressing students, Davenport said that their school, with its previous success, offers better opportunities than other schools for later studies abroad, as well as that they are privileged to have their talents developed there.
I hope that you will have the opportunity to return here after studying abroad, because Serbia needs people with enthusiasm, integrity and skills, but above all with entrepreneurial spirit. These will be necessary for Serbia on its way to EU, and EU thus becomes more competitive, said Davenport.
He told the students about his professional experience before coming to Serbia, and before the appointment to the Head of the EU Delegation position, when he served as the Ambassador of Great Britain from 2011 to 2013. I was skeptical at the beginning, but soon I started to believe that Serbia can move forward with the reforms, as you can also see. EU is the best solution to support Serbia on the way of those reforms, ambassador said.
Reminding that Serbia has started the accession negotiations with EU started on January 21st, Davenport emphasized that it is an arduous process which, he added, will be continued although there is an election campaign in process in Serbia. This and the next week the EU experts are in the country within the process of screening which includes a great number of areas such as judicial reform and fight against corruption, he added.
Davenport said that EU gives the possibility to Serbian students to study abroad through Erasmus Mundus programme. In the last two years, there were about 1 000 of them, stressed Davenport.
Recognition of diplomas obtained abroad is very important process that is in progress and is worked on with the Ministry of Education, Davenport said, judging that the process should stream faster than so far.
To students’ question what are the advantages that Serbia could get from the EU, Davenport answered that relations of Serbia and EU are being ever closer and that 65% of Serbia’s trade exchange is with the EU countries, and 65% of all foreign investments in Serbia came from the EU countries.
He said that he has the impression that the majority of the citizens see Serbia as European country which already shares democratic values with EU. EU can help Serbia to embrace those values, and it is not only about to pass the laws, but also to implement them, even when we speak about the small groups of people, such as people with disabilities and LGBT community, said the Head of the EU Delegation.
Answering the questions about supporting universities, Davenport said that EU already supports universities in Belgrade, Novi Sad and other cities in order to attract students to continue their master and PhD studies in Serbia. Afterwards, Ambassador Davenport met the Mathematical Grammar School students that were admitted to the University of Cambridge. Those students are: Luka Bojović, Ivan Tanasijević, Miloš Stanojević i Dušan Drobnjak, who should start their student “career” in autumn.
