On July 1, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic that he was sure Serbia would do its share of the work to gain the status of a candidate state for EU membership and a date for accession talks with the EU.

Presenting the Serbian Finance Ministry's strategy for successful integration with Europe, Cvetkovic said that the mood was almost like the enthusiasm that took hold when the regime of Slobodan Milosevic was ousted in 2000, and that Serbia was without a doubt taking the road of European integration and political and economic progress.

According to Cvetkovic, who is also acting as the Serbian minister of finance, the ministry's strategy has to do with the movement of capital, public acquisitions, state assistance, financial services, customs, taxes and spending issues.

Cvetkovic also said that much had been done since 2000 to improve the political and economic climate in Serbia, and that "every job contains within it the seeds of progress."

"The government is working on making the economic system more efficient and reliable, which abides by with the goals of European integration and the Finance Ministry's strategy," Cvetkovic explained.