Slovakia Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak said that announced signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Serbia and Eurasia does not bring Serbia closer to its strategic goal, which is the EU membership, RTS reports.

“If you are serious about your European orientation then you do not make political choices that do not bring you closer to it. This step is not one of them,” Lajcak noted. He termed the announced signing of the agreement “as confusing” adding “that one cannot move in several directions at the same time.”

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said in Helsinki that the positive outcome of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is of crucial importance for the European perspective of an entire Western Balkan region, RTS reports.

He urged Pristina authorities once again to revoke the tariffs on the goods from Serbia. “It is crucial that the tariffs are revoked because they are against the spirit of the Union. If it is about united market, there are neither tariffs nor customs. It must be done,” Hahn said.

Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Péter Szijjártó pledged for faster accession of Serbia and the Western Balkans to the EU, Tanjug news agency reports.

“Serbia must be enabled to join the EU even before 2025,” Szijjártó said. He made these remarks in a meeting of the European Union Council in Helsinki, adding that the integration of the Western Balkans must be swift. He also assessed that countries of the region did the best they could to speed up accession process.

Serbia must terminate a new trade agreement with Russia's Eurasian Economic Union when it joins the European Union. This is a clear message from European Commission to Serbia, Tanjug news agency reports today.

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic had a meeting with the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, David McAllister, Tanjug news agency reports.  This is the first McAllister’s visit to Belgrade after taking up a new duty.

On his Instagram account, the President posted that Serbia agrees with the EU member states’ agreement on the holders of the most important functions.

Serbian opposition leader Dragan Djilas said on Monday that European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman David McAllister knows exactly what is happening in Serbia but refuses to call things by their real name, FoNet news agency reports.

Last year 51.000 persons have left Serbia and went to the EU countries, while the highest number of migrants comes from Albania 62.000 and Bosnia and Herzegovina 53.500. Meanwhile, 34.500 persons have left Kosovo, 24.300 North Macedonia and 3.000 persons left Montenegro, KoSSev portal reports referring to Eurostat data.

The highest percentage of Albanian citizens moved to Italy (23.000), Greece (17.000) and Germany (10.000). People from Bosnia and Herzegovina mainly moved to Germany (16.000) followed by Slovenia and Croatia.

Two years ago, there was much more room for an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, but unfortunately it was not used, Austrian diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch told BBC in Serbian, and added that it was necessary to change the format of the dialogue and proposed international conference after the elections in Kosovo and in Serbia.

Russian ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko told N1 on Thursday that Russia sees Serbia as a link between the West and Moscow, adding the free trade agreement between Serbia and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was expected to be signed on October 25.

He added that Serbia’s road to the European Union should not distant the country from EAEU.

Botsan-Kharchenko also said that EU candidates should not face a choice between Brussels or Moscow.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic believes that EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, by inviting Pristina to attend Helsinki meeting, where EU candidate countries are invited, is trying to create a presidency that Belgrade should accept, but which, he adds, certainly won't happen.

Dacic says that the name of another brave country that has withdrawn its decision on recognizing Kosovo's independence will be announced after Vucic's return from New York.