Buzek:The EU door is wide open
The message conveyed by the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek: the European Union’s door remains open to Serbia, but the Union wants to see improvement in the relations between Belgrade and Priština and implementation of agreements reached so far in the dialogue.
Speaking to the MP’s at the Serbian Parliament, Buzek figuratively said that on the path towards the EU, Serbia has to show the "determination of Novak Djoković".
"You must possess the determination of Novak Đoković, who turned around the situation at the end of the US Open finals and defeated Roger Federer. Đoković won because he was convinced he could do it. It is really important that the state has this strength. The state must have Novak’s strength," Buzek said.
During his visit to Belgrade Buzek met with Serbia’s President Boris Tadić, Speaker of the Parliament, Slavica Djukić Dejanović, and Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković.
The steps ahead are clear – candidate status in a few weeks and the commencement of accession negotiations in a few months. But the EU wishes to see improvement in the relations with Kosovo, Buzek said at the joint press conference with the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament after addressing the MP’s at the National Assembly.
He admitted this was not easy, but added that the two sides should learn from the experiences of other EU countries, e.g. the reconciliation between his country, Poland, and Germany after the Second World War.
Buzek points out that the EU door remains open to Serbia and that Serbia is not expected to fulfil all conditions within a few months, but it is expected to participate in the talks about the implementation of agreements reached in the dialogue with Priština.
Serbia is part of Europe and it is very close to obtaining the candidate status and opening the EU accession negotiations, Buzek said in his speech addressing the Serbian Parliament.
Buzek is convinced that Serbia will become the region's frontrunner on the path of EU integration because the enlargement process would be incomplete without the entire Western Balkans in the EU.
"We are waiting to welcome you," Buzek said, followed by a long applause of Serbian MP’s.
Buzek highlighted that Europe would not neglect Serbia as it is a very important country. He added that he personally knew enough about the history of the continent to be aware that Serbia had been neglected in the past.
"The EC issued its opinion on Serbia’s membership application and I warmly welcome the recommendation to grant EU Candidate Status to your country. Saying that I reflect the views of the majority of MEPs. You pushed ahead with judicial reform and made progress in combating corruption and organised crime at all levels. But some hard work remains to be done in all these areas,” Buzek said.
