Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday that he was confident that Serbia would open the first chapters in its EU accession negotiations before the end of the current year.

“I hope and expect that it will happen in September, but I have still not lost hope that we can get the first chapters even earlier. These could be Chapters 23 and 24, concerning the rule of law, 32, which concerns financial control, and Serbia-specific 35 (on Kosovo)," Vucic said for Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) after a ‘Friends of Serbia’ meeting in Brussels.

Vucic said that Serbia was much respected in the European Union, and clearly, all EU member-states supported Serbia’s economic reform and public finances stabilization, and the country had to continue talks on certain issues in the dialogue with Pristina.

“We have heard our Austrian, Italian and all other friends voicing their sincere support for Serbia, which made us feel as though we were part of the EU in a way,” he said.

“Serbia is expected to continue being an anchor or pillar of security in the region and we will continue to pursue such a policy, regardless of the political price, because it is how we are buying the future four our children and for our country,” said the prime minister.