Returning back to Europe and European values is more important today than ever and that is why the European Union decided to launch the campaign “Better together”, said the Head of Information, Communication and Press Paul-Henri Presset.

At the conference “Revitalisation of EU values”, he presented the campaign “Better together” which was symbolically launched on Europe Day, May 9.

“After the war came to Europe again, we all felt it was time to remind ourselves of the common values we strive for, so we decided to launch this campaign. We want to talk to ordinary people, to ask them what the EU means to them”, said Presset and added that the most common answers included values such as solidarity, peace, love, support and exchange.

He also said that these are not only the values advocated by the European Union, but that these are universal values of all people and that the European Union is there to promote and protect them.

“This campaign is emotional, intended for ordinary people, to remind them what the EU stands for, what are the crucial values we all share in everyday life”, says Presset.

He also said that in recent years in Serbia the European Union has been facing challenges to properly show the citizens what it is doing here.

“We have made a huge step forward in the past five years. While in 2018 only 16% of citizens said that the EU is the largest donor in Serbia, today almost every other resident thinks so”, Presset said.

He pointed out that the goal of the campaign is to present people who received assistance from the European Union in developing their businesses, building houses or improving their education.

“We must directly talk to the citizens, to show them that the EU is present, that what it does in Serbia has a positive impact and improves the quality of their lives. On Europe Day, a new cycle of Stories from Serbia has started, which is broadcast on the First Program of the Radio-Television of Serbia and which brings stories about ordinary people from different parts of Serbia to whom EU assistance has changed lives and made their lives easier”, Presset said.

He added that public opinion polls from December 2021 show that half of the citizens of Serbia would vote for the membership in the EU, while about one third of the population is against Serbia’s membership in the EU.

Presset also stated that the greatest support for European integration currently is among young people.

Germany against the “second-class” membership

The conference “Revitalisation of EU values” organised by the European Movement in Serbia was attended by Germany’s Special Representative for the Western Balkans Manuel Sarrazin, who said that the values advocated by the EU, especially peace and prosperity, cannot be “taken for granted”.

“The war in Ukraine has shown that European solidarity exists, that only a safe Europe means security for all countries on the continent. That is why Germany’s message is that the EU cannot be successful without including this region in the EU. No one will believe in the values we stand for, if we fail to integrate the Western Balkans region”, said Sarrazin.

He added that the Europe was created as a peace project, with the focus of united continent and stated that the proposal of the French President Emmanuel Macron on the formation of a European political community that would serve as a substitute for EU membership is unacceptable for Germany.

“No one wants to become a member waiting in line. The perspective should be clear – we want the region to be part of the European family, to become an equal and full member”, said Sarrazin.

He also stated that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also expressed his personal commitment to the process of European integration of the region, and that this is necessary in order to establish trust and restore credibility.

“The German Government believes in enlargement. It is necessary to carry out reforms in the field of justice, strengthen the fight against corruption and crime, work on the freedom of media. Political culture needs to be changed”, said Sarrazin.