Serbia is cooperating closely with neighboring countries in a bid to solve the problem of the Kosovo Albanians trying to move to Western Europe.

This cooperation is taking place primarily with Hungary, but also with Germany, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said in Brussels on Monday evening.

"Experts have arrived in Belgrade. However, this is not up to us. We respect the freedom of movement, which is one of the European values," Vucic told reporters after a meeting with European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.

Vucic underlined that Serbia is cooperating with European partners on this issue, while Hahn told reporters that "visa liberalization for Kosovo would not be a solution to this problem."

"The solution is a better economic situation, creating an economic perspective for people to stay there," he said, stressing that "this is the aspect that should be worked on."

Maximum efforts

Serbia will invest maximum efforts to carry out reforms, primarily in terms of economy, and it will do its share of work to launch accession talks, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic stated in Brussels late on Monday, after the talks with EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.

We will face many challenges and one of them is embodied in the continuation of the dialogue with Kosovo Albanians, Vucic told reporters speaking about the continuation of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in Brussels and added that the evening will be long and hopefully successful.

Vucic said that he asked Hahn for assistance and support, and at the same time stated that the European Commission and Hahn himself are true friends to Serbia and a guarantee of the assistance.

We are not looking for easy ways out or excuses, but there is no doubt that Serbia will be successful, modern and economically competitive in a few years' time, Vucic said.

Hahn congratulated Vucic and the Serbian government for the reform efforts they are investing and expressed the hope and expectation that the close cooperation would continue, adding that he supports reforms which are not always easy but are necessary for Serbia and its people.

Expressing the best wishes to Vucic for the dialogue late on Monday, Hahn stated that this is an investment in the future of Serbia, with the remark that he counts on understanding when it comes to the steps which need to be implemented from the perspective of the EU.

It is in the interest of the EU to launch accession talks with Serbia as soon as possible, for the momentum to be preserved and for Serbia to become a part of the European family as soon as possible, Hahn said and added that there is still work that needs to be done and that the EU supports Serbia on this path.

Asked by Tanjug's journalist whether the recent disagreements which arose between Belgrade and Brussels "have been sorted" out after the talks between Hahn and Vucic late on Monday, both officials replied positively.

Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson of the high EU representative for foreign affairs and security policy, recently voiced criticism of the Serbian prime minister and government on two occasions, first over the harsh words addressed to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) which is partially funded through EU funds, and once more over the attitude toward Serbian Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic.