President of the European Council, Antonio Costa he said that in order to join the European Union, it is necessary for Serbia to reform the areas of the rule of law, media freedom and election laws, as well as harmonize foreign policy with Brussels - especially in relation to Russia.
Košta emphasized that the implementation of current reforms is necessary for the progress of Serbia on the way to to the European Union.
"We encourage you to continue to work rapidly on reforms in three important areas. The rule of law, including enforcement recommendation of the Venice Commission on laws concerning the judiciary and the prosecution, freedom of the media, where it is necessary to ensure the creation of a favorable environment for the media and the establishment of a new REM Council in a transparent and inclusive manner and the reform of the electoral framework in accordance with the recommendations of ODHIR, before the next elections," said the President of the European Council.
He added that he welcomes the four election laws that were adopted last week and that it is an important step, but that now it is important to "conclude it by addressing the remaining recommendations, including those concerning the prevention of abuse of state resources and pressure on voters."
Vučić "has no idea" how to solve the REM problem
President Vučić said that Serbia will fulfill all the requirements of the Venice Commission, but that he "has no idea" how to solve the REM problem.
He also said that two more key laws will be adopted. One that concerns the financing of campaigns and the activities of political organizations and another anti-corruption law which, as he says, "is not so much against corruption, but we have to pass it because it is against the participation of officials in campaigns." He added that "sometimes he finds it amusing, but what can be done, European values, so we will push that in the next two weeks".
Marko Todorović, a senior researcher at the Center for European Policies, told Vreme that the Serbian president spoke almost operationally about the reform process, as if it were a new set of tasks that can be implemented mechanically, and not about obligations that have a long history and that Serbian institutions have had in front of them for years.
"Such a tone is, of course, to some extent expected in an address at this type of event, because readiness for cooperation and progress is emphasized. However, for anyone who knows the process of European integration of Serbia, it is clear that this partially relativizes the fact that most of these reforms are not new, but long delayed," says Todorović.
Košta's speech is diplomatically soft
He considers the speech of the President of the European Council to be diplomatically soft, but says that his message was quite clear. He adds that when Košta listed three problems for Serbia, he actually identified three areas in which the EU sees serious problems: regional political tensions, Serbia's non-compliance with the EU's foreign policy - especially in relation to Russia, and the insufficient pace of reforms in the area of democracy and the rule of law.
Todorović believes that his arrival should not be interpreted as a signal that Serbia is opening a shortcut to the EU.
"On the contrary, the message is consistent with what European institutions have been saying for years - Serbia can progress, but only if it starts delivering concrete results where it lags behind the most," emphasizes the senior researcher of the Center for European Policies.
Serbia opened the last cluster in negotiations with the European Union in 2021.
Antonio Košta came to Belgrade as part of a tour of the Western Balkans. After Belgrade, he will go to Montenegro, where he will participate in the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tivat, which, after great tensions, will be attended by President Vučić.
Real journalism costs money, and we will not be bought by tycoons and corporations. Support us with a one-time or monthly donation. The time for it is now!
