site.btaBulgaria Can Back Serbia’s EU Integration by Sharing Its Experience and Having Joint EU-Funded Projects, EU Ambassador in Belgrade Says

Bulgaria can back Serbia’s EU integration by sharing its experience and having joint EU-funded projects, while what Belgrade needs to do is to undertake the needed reforms and normalize relations with Kosovo, Emanuele Giaufret, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, told BTA at the EU representation in Belgrade earlier this month.

“Bulgaria can actually do a lot as a as a member state. First of all, I would say that Bulgaria can show the benefit that the membership has brought to Bulgaria as a country and its citizens,” he said as he was asked how Bulgaria can help step up Serbia’s accession to the EU.

As Serbia’s neighbour, Bulgaria also has very concrete tools at its disposal: the cross border cooperation programmes that exist between Bulgaria and the border region in Serbia where the two countries are working through partnerships between municipalities, civil society organisations and also businesses, to provide support and to reduce disparities, to promote socioeconomic development and increase the good neighbourly relationship between the community living on the two sides of border, said Ambassador Giaufret.

Serbia submitted an application for EU accession in 2009 and in 2012 it was granted candidate country status. The accession talks started in January 2014 and 22 of the 35 negotiating chapters have been opened thus far.

Ambassador Giaufret believes that the key challenges for Serbia on its road to EU accession are reforms in areas that he calls “fundamentals”: the fight against corruption, the fight against organized crime, the rule of law, “which means basically to strengthen the independence of the judiciary, but also creating a viable environment for society, to the functioning of democratic institutions”. Another one he mentions is fostering media pluralism and making sure that media journalists and media in general can function and work without any hindrance.

The EU Ambassador believes that, after the Russian aggression in Ukraine foreign policy has become “a very important topic” and Serbia should make more efforts to align its foreign policy with that of the European Union, as this is an obligation arising from the negotiating framework for EU membership of the candidate country.

“Unfortunately, we've seen that, this alignment is not as good as we would like this to be,” he also said.

Serbia has repeatedly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine – at the UN and other international forums, but has not introduced sanctions against Moscow.

“I think we have to remember that Serbia has clearly indicated that, the membership in the European Union is a strategic objective,” the EU diplomat said.

He added, though, that “it is important is that to see a real commitment and to look at Serbia as a sincere and valuable partner in European Union when it comes to EU common Foreign Policy”.

Ambassador Giaufret said that Belgrade needs to honour the commitments in the agreement for normalizing the relations “Normalization [of the relations] is what we are working on and this will determine the pace of progress to accession, along with the reports on the implementation of needed reforms,” he said.

Serbia does not recognize the 2008 independence of its former province of Kosovo. Pristina and Belgrade are engaged in EU-brokered dialogue on normalizing their relations. In Brussels in February last year, the two sides reached an agreement in this direction and then, in Ohrid, an annex was agreed on its implementation. Among the agreements reached already in April 2013 was that Kosovo should establish a Union of Serb-majority municipalities to give greater autonomy to the areas where Serbs are a majority. Serbia later promised not to block Kosovo's membership of international organisations.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much progress in the implementation of the Ohrid agreement as well previously reached agreements. “This is the reality we are facing, but the Ohrid agreement, have become part and parcel of the European path of the country. And now the commitment that Serbia has made, are incorporated in accession negotiations Chapter 35,” said Ambassador Giaufret.

Commenting the All-Serb Assembly in Belgrade earlier in June, where the President of the Bosnian Republika Srpska entity, Milorad Dodik, was among the participants, the EU diplomat said that the territorial integrity, sovereignty, constitutional order and international legal personality of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be undermined. “Any actions against these principles can lead to very serious consequences,” he added.

He stressed that the leaders of the region need really to focus on good neighbourly relations and strengthening regional cooperation. “This is the path towards the EU,” he added.

Ambassador Giaufret believes that there is a strong will in the European capitals and the EU institutions to really accelerate the process of enlargement.