The last day of his visit to Serbia saw Director-General of the European Commission for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Christian Danielsson meet with Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Government ministers. Earlier in the day he also took part in Belgrade Security Forum together with Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.

Asked to comment on EC President Juncker’s remark regarding enlargement of the EU, Danielsson said that the Western Balkans has come into Europe’s focus. He recalled that the EU had allocated EUR900 million for construction of roads, railways, gas pipelines, etc., to connect the region’s infrastructure. “We want to bring more integration to this market of 15-18 million people,“ Danielsson said.

He pointed to leaders’ readiness to talk shown during the meeting in Durres which focused on the FYROM. He recalled the setting up of the Youth Office in Tirana, Erasmus programme and the exchange project aimed at young civil servants.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic told Danielsson that a full-fledged membership in the EU was one of Serbia’s foreign policy priorities. She said that the entire region belonged in the EU, adding that without the Balkans, common economic and political area on the European continent would remain incomplete, reads the statement released from Prime Minister’s Cabinet.

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Brnabic said that Serbia perceived strengthening of regional cooperation within the Western Balkans as one of the most powerful levers of reconciliation policy in the region, adding that the country wanted to act as an active and credible partner in all regional initiatives and processes. She added that signature of the Transport Community Treaty and consensus between parties in the region and the European Commission to set up the headquarters of its future Secretariat in Belgrade was highly important for both Serbia and the region.

Following the meeting Danelsson held with First Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic, a statement released by the Minister’s Cabinet read that they both said they hoped new negotiating chapters would be opened by the year’s end.

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Dacic and Danielsson discussed Serbia’s progress in EU integration process, the Berlin Process and increasing EU’s visibility in Serbia.

Ministers of Interior and Justice, Nebojsa Stefanovic and Nela Kuburovic briefed Danielsson on the implementation of Action Plans for chapters 23 and 24. Stefanovic said he was happy with the implementation of measures foreseen by chapter 24 Action Plan, adding that, if necessary, the Ministry of Interior and negotiating group 24 is ready to carry out a review of segments of the Action Plan dealing with implementation deadlines and funding sources. Kuburovic said that forthcoming constitutional amendments, regarding strengthening of independence and accountability of judiciary, were among the most important tasks Serbia was faced with.

Danielsson pointed to importance of chapters 23 and 24, adding that progress in those chapters will dictate Serbia’s overall progress on the EU path. The EU, he said, will thus closely monitor the implementation of action plans necessary to implement said chapters, a Government statement reads.

During his two-day visit to Serbia, Christian Danielsson visited Kragujevac and Knic, where he met with local authorities and visited an EU-funded project aimed at empowering and increasing education opportunities for Roma children. He also visited the Women’s Monastery of Grncarica, as well as a farming cooperative and a hunters’ association.