Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić told Members of European Parliament (MEPs) during the session of the Foreign Affairs Committee on 29 May that he expects an upgrade of the level of relations with the European Union (EU) after the summit planned for June.
It is anticipated, that at the upcoming high-level EU meeting the leaders of the 27 member states might give Serbia a date for the start of membership talks.
“European enlargement should not slow down after Croatia’s accession on 1 July,” said Dačić, while calling on MEPs to intensify their contacts with Serbian institutions.
Belgrade does not expect that new rules are created for Serbia, but rather that the current rules in place are applied in the same manner, the PM explained.
“Serbia has lost a lot of time,” said Dačić and added that the country needs leaps forward, rather than small steps ahead.
The majority of the EP representatives congratulated the authorities in Belgrade for the agreement on normalisation of relations with Kosovo reached in April and for the recent settlement of its implementation plan, calling the move “a historic change”.
Last month, Belgrade and Pristina concluded an agreement that will permit them to normalise relations and set a path towards European Union membership. According to the deal, facilitated by EU, the authorities in Pristina will assume power over the region of northern Kosovo, while 40,000 local Serbs would be granted with a degree of autonomy in the area.
