Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

EU foreign affairs ministers have stated, during their “Friends of Serbia” ministerial meeting held on 18 May, that the chapters in the negotiations between Serbia and the EU should be opened as soon as possible. This meeting was organized at the initiative of the ministers of Italy and Austria, at a time when one year and four months after the official start of EU negotiations and nearly two months after the end of the screening, i.e. the analytical review of the chapters, Serbia is still waiting for the opening of the first chapters. The Government of the Republic of Serbia claims it has met the conditions for this step, while in early May Brussels said that, in addition to intensifying efforts to improve relations with Kosovo, quality action plans need to be established for EU harmonization under the key chapters 23 and 24, on the judiciary and human rights.

Foreign affairs minister Sebastian Kurz noted that this was a key moment, since Serbia had initiated the negotiations a year and a half ago, and no chapters have been opened yet.

He emphasized that Serbia has achieved significant and positive reforms, and that due to this it gained the support of foreign affairs ministers from the EU to move forward on this road as soon as possible.

For now, there are uncertainties on the date for the first chapters, but also whether the first chapters to be opened will be those marked as key by the enlargement strategy – 23 and 24, on human rights and the judiciary, or chapter 35 – other issues, representing an area without problems for all countries other than Serbia, who will deal with relations with Priština within this chapter.

Brussels and Belgrade have opposing views on the reasons for the standstill, with the opinions stated in early May, during the visit of the enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn to Serbia.

The Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, then said that Serbia is ready to open negotiations and assessed that some countries are setting “informal” conditions in the domain of relations with Kosovo. In Serbia, there is frequent talk of Germany having additional requirements regarding Kosovo. Hahn said that they are still waiting for action plans for chapters 23 and 24, and he also noted the potential negative attitude of some member states due to the close relations of Serbia and Russia, and the departure of the delegation for the celebration of Victory Day in Moscow.

In such a context, it is unclear whether the Friends of Serbia meeting, as an informal act of support, will have specific impact on the further procedure of opening the negotiations, but it certainly represents the support policy of key stakeholders, since member states have the main say in enlargement issues.

Source: Beta and S.V., taken from www.euractiv.rs