At the current pace of reforms, it is irresponsible to tell the people of the Balkans that they have a European perspective. No, they don’t. Their children do.
If a referendum were to be held "tomorrow" asking whether they support Serbia's EU membership, every other citizen - 49 percent - would vote "yes."
On the other hand, 66 percent think that reforms need to be implemented outside of the issue of EU membership.
This is according to an opinion poll, dubbed "European orientation of citizens of Serbia," carried out at the end of June the Ministry of European Integration.
It also showed that 27 percent of citizens would be opposed to EU membership, 13 percent would not vote, while 11 percent did not know their answer.
Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, Goran Svilanovic thinks that the Belgrade-Pristina relation is one of the biggest political issues in a negotiation process with the EU, but neither Serbs nor Albanians should be afraid of dialogue, Blic daily reported.
President Aleksandar Vucic met on Thursday in Thessaloniki with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Serbia's EU integration was discussed, while Juncker "confirmed the clear and unequivocal European perspective of Serbia," said reports, citing a statement issued by the president's press office.
Vucic invited Juncker to visit Serbia during the mandate of the European Commission and stressed that since 2000, Serbia "believes in joining the European Union - but much time has passed."
Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic stated Serbia is strategically oriented towards the European integration, dialogue and reconciliation, Serbian media reported.
European Commissioner For Regional Policy & Enlargement Johannes Hahn told CorD that the pace of negotiations depends on the progress countries make in implementing the necessary reforms.
-Quality goes before speed, but I always say that it is good to be ambitious. The Berlin Process serves to drive that reform programme forward, always with a view to strengthening each country’s preparations to meet their European Integration ambitions, said Hahn to CorD Magazine, published monthly in Belgrade.
In today’s routine meeting, the government of Kosovo reviewed European integration agenda. Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci spoke about implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) and the criteria Kosovo has to meet in its path to joining the EU while Prime Minister Isa Mustafa underlined the importance of the reforms agenda and noted that implementation of SAA precedes Kosovo’s EU accession.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, hosted today a meeting with the European Parliament delegation, which will participate at the meeting of the EU-Kosovo Parliamentary Commission for the Stabilization Association Agreement (SAA). A press release issued by the Office of the Prime Minister informs that the EU delegation lead by Tonino Picula, is comprised of Ulrike Lunacek, Dubravka Suica, Tanja Fajon, Jozo Rados, Georgios Kyrtsos and Julie Ward.