Steven Vanackere on closer relations between Serbia and the EU
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Steven Vanackere today met his Serbian counterpart, Vuk Jeremic. Both Ministers then attended a working lunch organized by Prime Minister Yves Leterme for the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic.
The Ministers confirmed the excellent relations between Belgium and Serbia. Today they signed a bilateral cooperation agreement on social security with other agreements, relating to investments and police cooperation, in the pipeline. They were also in favour of stepping up economic relations between the two countries.
The European agenda was clearly an important issue for discussion, notably in light of Steven Vanackere’s Presidency of the General Affairs Council of the EU. In the past few months, Serbia has achieved significant progress along its path towards integration into the European Union. Steven Vanackere emphasized the constructive role played by Serbia in the Balkans: ‘the declaration by the Serbian Parliament on the events in Srebrenica and the noted presence of President Tadic at the commemorations last weekend are very encouraging.’ The Serbian Government has also made efforts in terms of domestic reform and cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. ‘As I already indicated at the High Level Conference in Sarajevo, all the Balkan countries hold the keys to their future in their own hands; I therefore call on Serbia to pursue its efforts. As the President of the General Affairs Council, I intend to achieve consensus among the 27 Member States on the new steps to be taken for closer relations between Serbia and the EU.’
The Serbian delegation’s visit has come at an important time, a few days before the opinion to be issued by the International Court of Justice on the status of Kosovo. Minister Vanackere ‘hopes that all the parties concerned will react responsibly and will take on board the opinion of the International Court of Justice.’ Much also depends on dialogue to restore trust between Belgrade and Pristina through concrete measures, such as combating organized crime and impunity, or preventing gratuitous violence.
