German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger in an interview for RTS said the EU perspective for Serbia and other countries in the region should be open, while the enlargement process should continue.

He commented on recent messages from Paris that Serbia would not become an EU member before the union is transformed within, saying the question whether the EU should expand before being reformed is an ancient question, considered many times over the last three decades. Ischinger believes the EU enlargement process should continue and the EU should keep the word it gave many years ago in Thessalonica.

“Perspective of the EU membership to Serbia and other countries in the region should be open and we will try to convince our French colleagues about that. Although, French are right when they say the EU should do its homework first before getting into a situation to have more members. Therefore, we have two goals – enlargement and deepening of the EU,” Ischinger told RTS.

He is also certain that no one in Berlin or anywhere else would dispute that the perspective of EU accession must remain open.