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25 September 2023 The members of the European Integration Committee and the German Ambassador to Serbia

Monday, 25 September 2023

European Integration Committee Members Meet with German Ambassador to Serbia

The members of the European Integration Committee met today, at the National Assembly House, with the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Serbia Anke Konrad, to discuss the European integration prospects of Serbia and the Western Balkans.

Committee Chairperson Elvira Kovacs said that Serbia's strategic commitment is membership in the European Union, but the process has been going on for a long time without any visible positive results, seeing how Serbia has not opened a single negotiating cluster for two years now. This also affects the growth of Euroscepticism among the citizens of Serbia, she added.

"We believe that the progress of the integration process is not in line with the achieved reforms", Kovacs stressed, adding "that the impression is that the EU is focusing on the demands to align with the European foreign policy and on the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina".

Elvira Kovacs went on to point out that in the current geopolitical circumstances of the war in Ukraine, the subject of EU enlargement has returned into the European institutions, expressing satisfaction that, in addition to accelerating the European integration of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, the importance of accelerating the process for the Western Balkans is also being mentioned .

Ambassador Konrad said that Germany sees Serbia in the European Union, emphasising that it has all the predispositions to take the lead in the process in the Western Balkans. She opined that the greatest progress has been achieved in terms of economic stabilisation and growth, while the rule of law and media freedom require further efforts in the reform processes.

The Western Balkans will not be left out of the enlargement, she said, stressing that it is necessary for the candidate countries to fulfil all the conditions for membership. The EU is also considering the possibility of fast-tracking integration in some areas and programmes, where possible, such as cyber issues - pointing out that Serbia is already part of the Trans-European Network.

The meeting was also attended by Committee Deputy Chairperson Dubravka Filipovski, as well as Committee members and deputy members Natan Albahari, Dr Ksenija Markovic, Robert Kozma, Dunja Simonovic Bratic and Zagorka Aleksic.

The participants of the meeting also spoke about the previous day’s escalation of the conflict in Kosovo-Metohija, expressing regret and the need to normalise the situation.

They exchanged opinions with Ambassador Konrad on the European integration process, expressing their views on its prospects for Serbia and the Western Balkans.