EU: Speed of EU integration depends on Serbia
The speed of Serbia's EU integration is determined by the country itself, as each candidate state needs to fulfill EU enlargement preconditions, said Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.
(KosovoCompromiseStuff) Tuesday, October 02, 2012
If a country carries out reforms and fulfills preconditions quickly, then its progress will be faster, she said .
She added that at the moment it is clear that the ambition is to continue the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue as soon as possible, which is directly related to Serbia's accession talks.
We expect that Kosovo and Serbia will confirm their readiness for the dialogue. The high representative was clear about that, adding that the two parties might need to make quite difficult decisions, and that they should be ready to do so, Kocijancic said.
When asked what difficult decisions the Serbian president may face, Ashton's cabinet said that at the moment they cannot specify the issues which will be discussed, adding that these will be the ones that have not been tabled yet.
The experience in the previous year and a half has proved that these are difficult talks which require political will and decision. It is also clear that the point of the dialogue is to remove the obstacles on the EU pathway both for Serbia and Kosovo. All concrete issues in this context are related to north Kosovo, Kocijancic said.
She added that at the moment it is clear that the ambition is to continue the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue as soon as possible, which is directly related to Serbia's accession talks.
We expect that Kosovo and Serbia will confirm their readiness for the dialogue. The high representative was clear about that, adding that the two parties might need to make quite difficult decisions, and that they should be ready to do so, Kocijancic said.
When asked what difficult decisions the Serbian president may face, Ashton's cabinet said that at the moment they cannot specify the issues which will be discussed, adding that these will be the ones that have not been tabled yet.
The experience in the previous year and a half has proved that these are difficult talks which require political will and decision. It is also clear that the point of the dialogue is to remove the obstacles on the EU pathway both for Serbia and Kosovo. All concrete issues in this context are related to north Kosovo, Kocijancic said.
