Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic stated  that Serbia is doing everything to fulfil conditions which the EU set for its candidacy and announced intensive diplomatic activity until 9 December when the decision on Serbia’s application should be made.

Speaking at the promotion of publication “Guide to EU policies – freedom, security, justice”, Djelic stated that EU’s conditions are well-known, and that is continuation of dialogue with Pristina.

Djelic said on 9 December Serbia will need the votes of all 27 EU member states.

If granted the candidate status, the first chapters in accession negotiations will be in the domain of justice, freedom and security.

He said that the judicial reform brought about more efficient work of the courts, stating that in the first nine months of this year, 24% more cases were processed than in the same period last year.

Out of 810 complaints that were submitted to re-election of judges, 282 decisions have been made so far, with one-third being positive.

Djelic said that progress has been made in the fight against corruption, although this phenomenon is still present in our country and added that in order to fight corruption, the Law on public procurement was amended in such a way as to increase surveillance and transparency.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that Serbia has achieved significant results in the fight against criminal gangs that traffic drugs and pointed out that the services involved in finding indictees of the Hague tribunal will now focus on this area.

As one of the freedoms that was enabled to the citizens of Serbia, Djelic named visa liberalisation which is not harmed, although the number of false asylum seekers from Serbia in the EU countries has increased again in the past month and a half.

He said that this is a seasonal phenomenon and added that the Serbian government will continue to take measures to prevent abuse of the visa-free regime.

Djelic said that obtaining the candidate status is crucial for visa-free regime too, because thus Serbia will qualify for the Schengen area as a safe country.

In December the EU will adopt amendments that will allow members of the Schengen area to prevent entry to persons who abused the visa-free regime for the period of up to 5 years.

The publishing of the guide was supported by the Slovak Embassy to Serbia.

Slovak Ambassador to Serbia Jan Varso underlined that his country supports Serbia’s EU membership, as an important element of stability of the Western Balkans.

Varso expressed his hope that on 9 December Serbia will be granted EU candidate status and that the date of beginning of accession negotiations will be set.