The National Assembly delegation included: Milimir Vujadinovic, SAPC co-chair, and SAPC members Elvira Kovacs, Marijan Risticevic, Stasa Stojanovic, Dane Stanojcic and Vladimir Djordjevic.
The meeting was opened by SAPC co-chairs Loucas Fourlas and Milimir Vujadinovic.
After the co-chairs’ introductory remarks, the meeting participants were addressed by Nemanja Starovic, Minister of European Integration, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Serbia; Cristiana Tzika, Head of Relations with the European Parliament, Permanent Representation of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU; Julien Kramp, Deputy Head of the Unit for Serbia at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood, and Anne Kemppainen, Deputy Head of Unit for the Western Balkans, on behalf of the European External Action Service.
On the first day of the meeting, the participants spoke about the state of the accession negotiations and EU-Serbia relations, implementation of the Venice Commission's opinion regarding the amendments to the laws governing the judiciary and public prosecution, and compliance with the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union.
Addressing the members of the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, Milimir Vujadinovic expressed his satisfaction with the 18th meeting of the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee. Vujadinovic said that he hopes that the National Assembly will continue with the good cooperation and that it will have support from its colleagues from the European Parliament on its European path. As he said, every success that Serbia has achieved is, among other things, a direct consequence of the help and support it has received from the other side. He expressed hope that Serbia will have strong allies among the members of the European Parliament and that each subsequent meeting will be a step closer to Serbia's membership in the European Union.
Vujadinovic said that it is necessary to continue to make joint efforts to restore the positive trend as regards the Serbian citizens’ support for European integration. He recalled that the Serbian citizens’ support has always grown when there have been positive developments in the integration process, i.e. negotiations. Therefore, he expressed hope that the European Union will continue to remain committed to the Western Balkans. According to Vujadinovic, membership in the European Union remains the main foreign policy priority of the Republic of Serbia. He also said that Serbia's efforts to implement the obligations from the negotiation chapters and action plans cannot be disputed. "With a wise and balanced policy, we are trying to make the best possible decisions and to resist the numerous challenges we face every day," said Vujadinovic.
At the end of his address, Milimir Vujadinovic expressed his desire to continue to contribute to Serbia's approach to EU membership through joint efforts and to preserve the spirit of good cooperation during this mandate of the European Parliament and the National Assembly.
On the second day of the 18th meeting of the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, the participants spoke about the freedom and pluralism of the media, including the advance in the work of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media, electoral legislation, including the implementation of the Law on the Unified Voters’ Register and following ODIHR recommendations, the general political situation in the country and the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina with EU mediation.
At the end of the 18th meeting of the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC), the co-chairs issued the following joint statement:
We just concluded the eighteenth meeting of the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee.
It is always important for our two Delegations to interact directly in this forum, which allows for frank discussions at this important moment for Serbia, its EU accession path and for EU enlargement policy and the EU itself.
Our meeting comes days after the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tivat, which underlined the current momentum for the membership perspective of the Western Balkans and the importance of gradual integration of the region into the EU.
We heard from our invited speakers and members about the recent positive developments in implementing the opinion of the Venice Commission on the amendments to laws governing the judiciary and the prosecution.
We also discussed the difficulties in appointing the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media Council, the implementation of the Law on the Unified Voter Register and the follow up to ODIHR recommendations on elections.
Real progress in these areas would ease the way for Serbia to open Cluster 3 of the accession negotiations and further enhance trust between us. Crucially, it would also improve the political situation and decrease polarisation in the country.
We noted the uptrend in Serbia's alignment with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and discussed the status of the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.
We will continue our individual and collective work to try to bring a democratic Serbia into the EU, where Serbia undoubtedly belongs.
