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Joining the EU is a marathon, says Serbian PM (Euractive)

EXCLUSIVE / Serbia and Montenegro are seen as the two Western Balkan frontrunners to join the EU but Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić told EURACTIV.com in a wide-ranging interview that joining the soon-to-be 27-country bloc is a matter of endurance and not a competition.

“For Serbia, joining the EU is like a marathon,” Brnabić told EURACTIV. “When you run a marathon you are not competing against anyone else but yourself. In that sense, I don’t think any country should be bothered by who is the front or second runner.”

Serbia Accuses World of Double Standards Over Catalonia and Kosovo (U.S. News)

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia' foreign minister accused world powers on Tuesday of using double standards by refusing to accept the Catalan independence referendum while largely welcoming a separate Kosovo.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 - an announcement accepted by Washington and most EU states but rejected by Belgrade and its allies.
Almost a decade later on Sunday, voters in Catalonia backed independence from Spain in a referendum declared unconstitutional b

Dačić: Hypocrites, they supported Kosovo because they wanted a weak Serbia - they will not succeed (RTS)

In the case of Kosovo was told that "unilateral moves are possible, and then you will depend on the affection of great powers" - there is no international law, this is the policy of force, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić told RTS.

Reactions of the EU and the member states to the referendum in Catalonia are unanimous - they are for the constitutional unity of Spain, as French President Emanuel Macron said. The EC spokesman points out that Kosovo and Catalonia cannot be compared, reports RTS.

There is no alibi for snatching the territory (Večernje Novosti)

Tough to defend ‘rhetorical mimicry’ and an attempt to cover up EU's participation in the Kosovo's secession by double standards - this is how experts of international law and analysts estimate the EC's view that the Catalan case cannot be compared to Kosovo, since Serbia, unlike Spain, is not a member EU, writes daily Večernje Novosti.

Urgent consultations convened due to the EC announcement on Kosovo and Catalonia (Večernje Novosti, Blic, B92, Tanjug)

After the Catalan referendum and the European Commission's position that this referendum is illegal, it is probably clear how difficult it is to safeguard the independence of Serbia, says President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, daily Večernje Novosti writes.