What is most important is that citizens understand the partnership and the benefits of the accession process itself, because this is where society and the state change.
Tanja Miščević has held important positions for years, but she is a debutant in this government. Her department, at least at the moment, is not easy at all – European integration. More due to the world circumstances, and less due to us, this is an area that saw little progress in the past year.
Therefore, the first question for the Minister is expected.
Do you have the impression that you received a hot potato and an unenviable department? Did you think for a long time whether to accept the offer and what was the deciding factor?
Coordinating the European integration process in any country, including Serbia, is not an easy task because it implies that you work together with everyone else in the Government, parliament, judiciary, and also with civil society on the entire political and economic transformation of the country. It sounds complicated and demanding, and it is. Our job is to encourage the adoption of regulations and standards that should enable citizens to live in an orderly society. That is why my decision to accept this position is related to the effort to be a well-organised democratic state and a member of the European Union because I support this not only in terms of value but also with my entire professional engagement so far.
How do you cooperate with President Vučić, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and ministers?
Perfectly. Together, we plan and implement concrete reform steps that gradually, each in a separate area, ensure the progress of Serbia. And we can see the first big results – new regulations on the work of the judiciary were adopted and their implementation will strengthen the independence of judges and prosecutors. For citizens, this means more efficient and equal access to justice. A possibility for them to exercise their rights before the court within a reasonable time and under fairer conditions, which are equal for everyone. Amendments of media laws were announced for the first half of this year, in order to strengthen media freedoms, there is also a new strategy for the fight against corruption...
What is the greatest benefit for Serbia from having its EU candidate status? It seems that some of the EU’s financial injections, which finance projects in Serbia or regional projects, sometimes receive less attention and publicity than the far smaller assistance from other international entities.
What is most important is that citizens understand the partnership with the EU and the benefits of the accession process itself, because this is where society and the state change. Last week, a financial agreement was signed with the EU, which enabled us to use EUR 165 million of EU grants to help a large number of citizens, more precisely all those who apply and receive the status of a vulnerable household, to pay a large part of their electricity or gas heating bills. There are now 68,000 such households, and since we have aligned with the EU regulations that determine the criteria for acquiring the status of a vulnerable energy buyer, that number will reach 191,000 by the end of the year. Small and medium-sized enterprises have similar benefits. This is just the latest of many examples of how we don’t have to wait for the benefits of European integration, they are already here and influence our daily lives.
What is the future of the EU, in light of everything that is happening in the world?
In crises, the European Union reacts by trying to solve the crisis in a unified way, with joint decisions on joint policies. Thus, for example, until the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the policy of enlargement was completely on the back burner, always behind the EU’s need to first reform from within, and only then consider the admission of new members. Now, there is a clear awareness that the accession of new states, according to all the rules and procedures applied to all the previous ones, must not be delayed, because it is not in the interest of the EU itself. On the contrary, the interest in EU membership exists precisely due to the importance that the EU has as a trade bloc, a foreign policy actor, but also a space for the development of democratic values. We know that there are no shortcuts in meeting the conditions for membership, but what is also important is that there are no additional obstacles that would postpone everything indefinitely.
Do you understand (or perhaps share) the frustration of the Serbian citizens in the face of the fact that certain countries, such as Bulgaria or Romania, and even Croatia, somehow jumped the queue when entering the EU?
There is no frustration because there is no out-of-order entering. Any other situation would be a bad message for all of us who have advanced in the accession process. We learn from our neighbours who are in the EU and try to avoid the mistakes that cost them that bad reputation, that they allegedly got something outside the rules.
We use examples to show the great importance of partnership.
A few days ago in Lebane, you visited a company that received EUR 42,000 of grants from the EU programme? How many such companies are there in Serbia and what are the results of cooperation with the EU within such programmes and projects?
The pharmaceutical company that I visited, employed nine more workers with the support of the EU and the investment of its own money, and now there is a total of 24 employees. For such a small environment, it is a large and important project, with an impact that greatly exceeds the sum invested. It is with such examples that we show that Serbia and the EU work in partnership, and that the accession process is not an exclusive bureaucratic story, but that our citizens – whether as entrepreneurs, students, activists or researchers – if they are trained and motivated, can do much more for themselves using the money that is available. Both the money from the EU funds and a proportionally smaller, but important part of the funds that Serbia is obliged to co-finance.
We sympathise with the suffering of Ukrainians.
What is your position on the war in Ukraine?
As a member of the Government of Serbia, I share the position, expressed so many times already, that we support the principle of territorial integrity of every sovereign state, and especially that we are not and cannot be neutral in relation to such a large-scale conflict that endangers the security of Europe. In particular, we deeply sympathise with all the sufferings of the Ukrainian people and strive to provide all types of assistance: material, humanitarian and energy sector assistance.
Source: Alo
