EU Membership Central Strategic Priority for Serbia - Foreign Minister

Green light was given Monday to a long-frozen Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Serbia.

Serbia is committed to becoming a member of the European Union and that is the chief strategic priority of the country, stated Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremi? Tuesday, speaking in Montenegrin town of Budva.

Late Monday evening it was announced that EU foreign ministers meeting at a council in Luxemburg agreed to sign a long-postponed Stabilisation and Association Agreement, signed by Serbia in 2008 and seen as a step toward membership.

The Netherlands and the UK opposed signing the agreement on the ground of insufficient cooperation on the part of Serbian authorities with the war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia, but their worries were eventually allayed Monday.

This development was widely characterized as a “big step forward” by both politicians and media.

Jeremi? welcomed the imminent entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and added that he hopes this decision “would lead to Serbia's candidacy for the EU to be considered soon”.

Jeremi? stressed Serbia's potential as a factor for unity and stability in the Western Balkans, calling for a "full reconciliation" in the region.

 

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