Professor of Political Sciences, Predrag Simic believes that Serbia will have a harder path in membership talks with the European Union compared to the other states, because as he says “slat is permanently lifting.”
Professor Simic noted that the last member, Croatia, had to adopt 200,000 documents during the negotiations, but that is now changed and it is not known how many Serbia will have to change because, as he says, it all depends on how much time the country will need to reach the door of the EU.
As second, as he explained, the specifics of Serbia is that in all other countries, chapter 35 was final, while in Serbia it is very important, because in this chapter is the issue of Kosovo and negotiations will be started and finished with it. “Probably the EU doesn’t know what will be in it. Chapter 35 will not replace the Brussels agreement and it will be a key condition for Serbia,” Simic said and added that biggest challenges for Serbia are chapters 23 and 24, i.e. the justice and internal affairs.
Start of negotiations with the EU, according to him, was a historic day for Serbia, but also for the EU which is shaken by crisis. “This is not just a historic day for us, but for them, because it shows that the EU exists,” said Simic.
When asked whether Serbia can be rewarded and quickly enter the EU, Simic said that it is theoretically possible, because in such way were rewarded Bulgaria and Romania, which were received before they met the requirements.
Simic also noted that negotiations can be frozen, or blocked, and that each of 28 member states may block the negotiations.
