MPs of ruling parties say no new conditions should be imposed to Serbia
26. July 2011. | 12:57
Source: Tanjug
As a reaction to the statement of EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele that Belgrade has to improve relations with Kosovo, the MPs told the journalists that they do not expect the recognition of Kosovo's independence will be imposed as a condition for Serbia's EU accession.
MPs of the ruling parties in Serbia stated at the parliament on Monday that, by arresting the remaining ICTY indictees, Serbia has fulfilled its international and moral obligation, adding that no new conditions should be imposed to the country's EU accession.
As a reaction to the statement of EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele that Belgrade has to improve relations with Kosovo, the MPs told the journalists that they do not expect the recognition of Kosovo's independence will be imposed as a condition for Serbia's EU accession.
On the other hand, the opposition claims that this condition has already been imposed, and that the Serbian government is responsible for that.
Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) MP Djordje Milicevic pointed out that Serbia has successfully removed all obstacles on its EU pathway.
Serbia showed that it is capable of overcoming any technical obstacle, and I am convinced that the European Commission realized that, Milicevic said.
He stressed that Serbia has fulfilled its international and moral obligation by completing cooperation with The Hague Tribunal.
Milicevic said that it is clear that there will be more and more pressures when it comes to the recognition of Kosovo's independence, but that it is crucial to continue the dialogue on Kosovo.
United Serbia (JS) believes that all conditions have been met for Serbia's EU accession.
JS MP Petar Petrovic said that individual opinions recently expressed by certain EU officials that Serbia needs to fulfill some additional requirements, among which is the recognition, that is the improvement of relations with Kosovo, will not be an obstacle for Serbia's EU accession.
Petrovic stated that the Serbian government's position is that Serbia should say "No, thank you", if Kosovo is the condition for EU admission.
MP of the United Regions of Serbia (URS) Vlajko Senic is confident that Serbia will be granted the status of candidate country in the fall and that very soon it will start the EU accession talks.
Senic also said that the issue of Kosovo is something no other country had been faced with, and that it would take time to resolve it. However, he does not think it is "a millstone round Serbia's neck" which will prevent the country from entering the EU.
According to Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) MP Milos Aligrudic, it is the Serbian government that brought the country into this position.
Aligrudic said that the EU membership, a great benefit for Serbia, has gradually turned into its opposite, and a "chain of blackmail" against Serbia.
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) representative Bojan Djuric said it was good that Fuele's "warning came now" and not in September or October "when practically everybody in Serbia expects to have a positive opinion regardless of all other processes in the country."
Serbian Radical Party (SRS) MP Aleksandar Martinovic said that his party had been warning for years about the official stand of the EU member states that Kosovo-Metohija is not an integral part of Serbia.
The cooperation with the Hague Tribunal was just an excuse, and the EU's final objective is to have Serbia admit formally that Kosovo and Metohija is not an integral part of the country, Martinovic said.
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