Fabrizi: Serbia recognised as the frontrunner in the Western Balkans

“Serbia has secured a firm position in the EU enlargement process and is recognised as the frontrunner in the Western Balkans,” said Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi and added that the EU acknowledged the commitment of Serbian authorities to creating a functioning market economy.

At a roundtable titled “Stabilisation and Integration in the Western Balkans” within a two-day Serbian Economic Summit which took place in Belgrade, Fabrizi said that the EU has put the region and its European future at the heart of its agenda.

“If we want more stability in our neighbourhood, we have to support the integration process of which the Western Balkans is a part of,” Fabrizi said.

In the previous period, he said, Serbia has made progress in the area of economic reform and macroeconomic stability; it reduced the inflation and unemployment, and kept the prices stable. The first three quarters of 2018, he added, saw an increase in economic growth and investment.

More effort is needed, he said, to improve the business environment as well as a tougher approach when it comes to fighting corruption and informal economy, restructuring of public enterprises and public administration reform.

“Serbia was given a positive review, especially in economy, which proves that the stability and integration process are indeed mutually reinforcing,” Fabrizi said.

He reminded that more than 66 per cent of total exports of Serbia go to the EU, while more than 62 per cent of Serbian imports originate in the EU.

The Head of the EU Delegation also reminded that Serbia has thus far opened 14 out 35 negotiating chapters and that the rest will soon follow.

The EU is a transformative power that brings more stability, prosperity, security and democracy, he said.

“The EU is both a project and a way ahead for the whole of Serbia: the Government, NGOs, the business community, etc. The job of my Delegation is to support this process in order to speed it up and make it more thorough,” Fabrizi said.

He described stability and integration as two key, mutually reinforcing elements in the EU enlargement process.

“Stability is at the same time a result of the process of EU integration and a precondition for it,” said Fabrizi.

You can read the speech of the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Sem Fabric at the 18th Serbian Economic Summit here.