Serbia and the whole region are part of Europe, Serbian Minister of Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic said, commenting on a statement made by the French Minister for European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau. French Minister told Serbian press ahead of her visit here this week that “the current state of the EU does not allow for new accessions.”
Serbia wants peace and cooperation with its neighbors, wants to share and be part of European values and work to implement all European standards, primarily in the interests of its citizens, Mihajlovic said on Tuesday.
She told reporters she was convinced Serbia and the whole of our region have value that they can contribute to the European Union, just as “we all lack the application of standards in order to make our countries even more efficient for their citizens.”
“That is why canceling and neglecting the European perspective to Serbia and other countries of Southeastern Europe represents a very ill-thought out and short-sighted decision, while any isolation of the Balkans from the European Union pushes our entire region into new uncertainty,” Mihajlovic noted.
Mihajlovic, however, warned “just as it will not give up on the EU, Serbia must continue to live and develop,” and concluded that “the citizens of Serbia must live. We don’t have the luxury to spend time in the waiting room, waiting for a train for the European Union that will, after all, not appear in the foreseeable future.”
