Minister of European Integration Tanja Miščević stated that Serbia could meet the EU membership criteria by 2025.
“That means that the largest number of systemic laws should be fully aligned by that year. That all systemic benchmarks be introduced into domestic law and judiciary. The thing is that the EU is changing day by day and the scope with which we have to align before the moment of membership is increasing,” Miščević, who was on a three-day visit to Washington, told “Voice of America”.
In the US, she spoke with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar, members of the House of Representatives, Thomas Kean and Robert Aderholt, and participated in events organised by the non-governmental Atlantic Council.
Among other things, regional cooperation in the Western Balkans, the European integration process, as well as how much the United States can help, were discussed.
According to her, the current relations and dialogue between Belgrade and Priština were discussed with congressmen Kean and Aderholt.
She pointed out that an important topic of her meetings had been the need for a continuous strategic dialogue between Serbia and the USA because as Miščević specified, the two countries had many more topics to discuss than the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština.
“There is room for discussions about energy, bearing in mind that one of the reforms emphasised in Serbia is energy diversification. Then there is the topic of digitisation but also the constant need to increase investments that come to Serbia from America. There is a lot of room and interest there. The bridge of all that is the great engagement of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Serbia,” Miščević added.
When the “Voice of America” journalist stated that Serbia had formally started accession negotiations in 2014, Miščević said that the process was taking a very long time.
“Ten years of negotiations, 20 and more years of participation in the European integration process – since December 2000. The positive thing about the length of the process is that many things have mostly been brought to the level that already works and exists under EU conditions. We tend to forget the importance of some of them, such as the protection of intellectual property. This field is fully aligned in Serbia and it was achieved in these 20 years, that is, 10 years of negotiations,” she said.
Miščević pointed out that the most emphasis is placed on the rule of law, which is the most important segment of reforms for the integration process and for Serbia as a state and society.
“We are in a phase that now represents the basis for moving to a new level of relations. Recently, in Brussels, we discussed with colleagues from the European Commission about Serbia's possibility to discuss the fulfilment of interim benchmarks. They provide you with the basis to go further in the negotiation process, not only in the area of the rule of law but also in all other chapters,” she added.
After the journalist stated that the last intergovernmental conference of Serbia and the EU had been held in December 2021 and that there had been long periods when no chapters had been opened or closed, the following question was asked: “What is the cause of this?”
“The reason is primarily and always – political. Do not forget that during the negotiation process, Serbia was the only country that had Chapter 35, which, in parallel with the rule of law, demonstrates an assessment of progress. At this moment, we have no element of doubt that the EC could estimate that Serbia is not constructive in the dialogue. But, in the meantime, there was a war in Ukraine and a large number of different measures – I would like to remind you of 11 packages of sanctions or restrictive measures with which Serbia is unable to comply,” she said.
She added that last year, that assessment had given Serbia a backsliding in one of the negotiation chapters.
“Since then, a lot has been done in terms of humanitarian aid to Ukraine – we are the only country in Europe that provided aid for the restoration of the power system. We are working with a coalition of states to rebuild hospitals in parts of Ukraine, and 80,000 Ukrainian refugees have full protection on the territory of Serbia. The latest and perhaps the most important fact is that Serbia is no longer a country from whose territory it is possible to avoid the sanctions imposed by the EU on the Russian Federation. All of these are elements of aligning with the common foreign and security policy, and they give us elements for the evaluation of the member states as to whether Serbia will soon be able to open a new cluster”, said Miščević.
Source: Tanjug
