How would you describe Serbia’s negotiating process with the European Union at the moment?
We started the negotiations in 2013, at a different time and with a different negotiation method. So far we managed to open 22 of the 35 chapters, which is the least important. The most important thing is that we started the process according to European standards even before we started the negotiations. We are now presenting the so-called historical trajectory. No one judges how many laws we have passed that are made according to EU standards or how many institutions we have created to meet the obligation to implement those laws. Everyone is now evaluating how many of these European standards we as citizens or businesses of Serbia can use effectively. This is the history of the trajectory which shows that we are well advanced in the integration process. The biggest reforms today are those of the rule of law, as well as those related to energy diversification and digitalisation. It is these reforms that will bring about the development of society.
Do the recent problems in Kosovo affect the negotiations in any way or is this an entirely separate process?
Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is central and has been part of the negotiation process since the beginning, 2013. No progress can be made if the EU and all Member States say that Serbia is not doing its part in the standardization process, but that is not the case. The good thing is that every Member State says that Serbia is doing its best from the start to normalize the situation. We are now waiting for Pristina to establish something important, the so-called Community Association of Serbian Municipalities to protect the collective rights of Serbs, which it has not done for a decade. So this is part of the negotiation process for our integration and there will be no progress in this negotiation if we don’t do our homework for normalisation.
Is there any controversy within the EU about Serbia’s integration or is there now a consensus among the 27 countries that Serbia should become a member state?
I can say that, especially now that the war in Ukraine has started, some Member States are in favor of enlargement to cover the whole of the Western Balkans including Serbia, but on the other hand, different countries have different views on meeting the criteria for accession to the European Union. There are neighboring countries that are naturally interested in issues that directly affect them; there are other countries that are very focused on protecting the rule of law; and there are those who, especially now, are more focused on relations and development in terms of the war in Ukraine. But I have not heard anyone say that they do not support Serbia’s European integration, which is a good starting point.
And has Portugal been active in supporting Serbia?
Well, I am here in Lisbon to sign the Memorandum of Cooperation – we have already done that – with the entity responsible for European policy within the Prime Minister’s Office and, of course, to discuss the issue of greater cooperation. Why? Because we thought, and this is a mutual understanding between Serbia and Portugal, that this country, which is extremely supportive of Serbia’s European integration, can help by sharing the experience and knowledge that comes from EU membership – knowing how to do it use Union policies in the best way, know how to use funds for the development of local communities. It is these experiences that we are very interested in and I am very proud of this opportunity to have this kind of memorandum between Serbia and Portugal for the first time.
Is Serbian public opinion overwhelmingly in favor of integration or are there people who prefer other options?
Serbian public opinion has never had a large majority in favor of the country’s accession to the European Union. We just want to be able to discuss the problem. So from the beginning of the process there is a majority that was pro-European, who voted yes in the referendum on membership, but there is also always a very constant number of people who are not in favor of integration. It’s always been that way. The problem at the moment is that the whole region is getting a bit fed up with the very slow accession process, so we are also seeing the rate of support for integration falling in neighboring countries. The good thing about Serbia is that more than 70 percent of the population is in favor of reforms, whether this leads to EU membership or just the reforms themselves. This is an extremely important element to base on, especially when we implement reforms.
Does the success of countries such as Slovenia and Croatia in the European Union, including former Yugoslav republics and thus historically so close to Serbia, play to the advantage of the European image in the country, or is Serbia’s situation seen as completely different?
We are constantly competing with them – if they did it, why shouldn’t we? We recently had a very good meeting with the Croatian foreign minister, who said very bluntly that it is in Croatia’s interest to get Serbia as close as possible to EU membership. We saw the same attitude from Slovenia. So basically I would say these are the best partners. Of course we have problems that come from the 1990s, but we are trying to solve these problems, but it is unequivocal support in terms of supporting integration, not only for Serbia but also for other countries in the region.
How will this war in Ukraine affect Serbia? Not only in economic terms, but also in terms of the political situation?
On the political front, our National Security Council, the highest security body in Serbia, immediately after the outbreak of war, two days later, passed a resolution in which we condemned the war in a very clear statement that Russia should be guilty and that we supported the territorial integrity and political independence of Ukraine. We did it before countless organizations did. We voted in the same way as all EU members, as well as the Council of Europe, the United Nations, etc. We also help and support Ukrainians. We have 80,000 Ukrainian refugees in Serbia. We help restore the electrical system in Ukraine. So in that area, politically and otherwise, we share the EU’s vision. On the other hand, it is also important to know that we depend on Russia for oil and gas energy and that this also affects us a lot. We are now trying to find other sources of gas and oil supply. Our country has not imposed any sanctions against Russia, only restrictive measures. There are explanations for that like our energy dependency, we still don’t have the ability to be self sufficient in terms of energy but also politically in terms of the territorial integrity of Serbia and also emotionally because as a nation we are under sanctions for 12 years, in the 1990s and the beginning of this century. We have lived through these years knowing that sanctions also hurt ordinary people more than the state. That is the main reason why Serbia is not in favor of sanctions.
“On the political level, immediately after the outbreak of war, two days later, our National Security Council, the highest security body in Serbia, passed a resolution condemning the war in a very clear statement that Russia should be guilty of and that we supported the territorial integrity and political independence of Ukraine.”
How is Serbia doing economically?
If we compare it to the Balkans – this is our area of comparison – we had EUR 4.2 billion in foreign direct investment last year, which represented twice as much as the rest of the Balkans combined. This means that we offer good conditions for foreign direct investment, with the largest funds coming from the European Union – Germany, Italy, Austria – which currently employs more than 200,000 people, which equates to at least a million if we think in terms of covered families. Why is this happening? Thanks to the specialized workers and the very good infrastructure that we are building. We are the only ones with a motorway network and we have started work on the high-speed line, but on the other hand we have also managed to reduce unemployment, which is close to the European level, and we are providing incentives for foreign companies to go to Serbia because we’re interested in which they come and employ our people. It is not easy to fight inflation all around us, although it has now stabilized, which is a good thing. We also noticed a good development in economic data, so our average salary started to increase. At the moment it is more or less the equivalent of the average salary here in Portugal – 750 euros. We also try to give incentives to doctors and highly specialized people, because it is not easy to compete with the European labor market, which is open to this kind of specialisation. Overall there is good potential for further development and we are very interested in attracting more investment. We put emphasis on research and development, with several research centers all over Serbia, and we invest a lot in the digitization of services, which is one of the important elements. This is interesting information: our people will come here, to Portugal, to learn more about the digitization of public services, which is extremely important.
Has Serbia invested in tourism to improve the country’s image?
We are very interested in tourism. Especially before the pandemic, we saw the flow increase. Of course everything stopped during covid, but now we see the return of tourists. In addition to Europeans, Chinese tourists are also abundant in Serbia. We would like the Portuguese to go to Serbia to get to know our country, which is an interesting combination. We do not have the coast, but we have many monasteries from the 12th century, which are our national heritage, also protected by UNESCO; we have beautiful, untouched nature, which is also important; and we have the hospitality of our people, what you consider something Portuguese… In addition, we now have a direct line of Air Serbia between Belgrade and Lisbon twice a week. Therefore, tourism is our potential and something new that we have only recently started to develop. I invite the Portuguese to come and visit us.
Source: DN
