At a press conference held together with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said that next week could see the opening of more than one negotiation chapter within Serbia’s EU accession talks.
“The opening of chapters is based on the fulfilment of certain criteria. There are criteria to be met but there are also political considerations to be taken into account,” said Hahn, adding that the EU Member States should make a difference between bilateral issues and those of the Union concern.“
“The process should lead to further stabilisation of the region. We appreciate Serbia’s efforts to stabilise the region whose countries should all become EU members, but the most important thing is to establish peace and prosperity among those nations”, Hahn said.
Answering the question about Belgrade-Pristina relations, Hahn said that Serbia and Kosovo should implement the elements of the Brussels Agreement. “The introduction of dialling code for Kosovo is a new trust building measure,” Hahn said.
“This is current state of play, we will discuss this further over lunch and tête-à-tête before lunch. This is about the Croatian request and what Serbia can do regarding its relations with Pristina,” Prime Minister Vucic said during the press conference held jointly with European Commissioner Johannes Hahn.
Hahn and Dacic: Progress in the process of European integration
FoNet
During his one-day visit to Belgrade, European Commissioner Hahn also met with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dacic.
During the meeting, the two noted that Serbia had made progress in the process of European integration and said they expected the EU to reach agreement on the opening of further negotiating chapters over the course of next week, adding that in 2017 negotiating process should continue with a focus on reforms in the area of economy and other key areas instrumental in the modernisation of Serbian society and state.
