“Serbia is welcome in the EU. Serbia knows what has to be done, the path, means and goal are clear, and we can only talk about the ways to achieve them,” said Belgian Ambassador to Serbia Leo D’aes.
D’aes spoke to law, economy and political sciences students and told them that nearly 20 years ago the EU confirmed the European perspective of the Western Balkans, including Serbia, adding that the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini had recently reiterated so.
“We support and help Serbia on that path. And not only we, other organisations do so as well – the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the financial institutions such as the EBRD and the EIB. Also, the support for Serbia’s European path comes from countries that are not part of the EU, such as Norway and the USA,” D’aes said.
He said that the mechanism of WB6 was an important tool in helping the countries in the region prepare for membership in the Union.
According to him, Serbia currently negotiates two most important chapters, 23 and 24, but “one should bear in mind that Belgium, as one of the EU founding members, was still working on those chapters. It is work in progress and we stand ready to continue to support Serbia and remain one of its close partners.”
The Union will continue to advance its fundamental values, defence, international relations, the rule of law, to get closer to its citizens, to develop integration ideas for specific countries, the so-called multi-speed Europe,” D’aes said.
This is not a new idea, he said, reminding about the Schengen agreement and the Eurozone, but we must start by helping the aspiring countries meet the more attainable criteria.
This is not Europe à la carte, this is about giving more time to reach the goals, D’aes told students.
