Giaufret for Telegraf.rs: We are aware of the urgency, I hope there will be a shift under Czech EU presidency

The head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, told Telegraf.rs today that it is necessary to speed up the process of enlargement of the European Union, stating that the geostrategic context shows that it is necessary to move faster towards democratization and prosperity

"We are all very aware of the urgency of this topic and I really hope that under the next Czech presidency, in December, there will be some shift," Emanuele Giaufret said when asked whether the situation will change by the end of the year, bearing in mind that everyone from the region was dissatisfied at last EU-Western Balkans summit.

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He stressed that this impatience is completely understandable, considering that everyone wanted to experience some movement forward.

"It's important for Serbia to continue the path to the EU, and that is the path of reforms, not only in the area of the rule of law, but also in all other areas of harmonization of various policies, including foreign policy. It should continue to work to secure support on its path to reforms. I know that reforms that need to be implemented are difficult, but they are necessary and it is necessary to achieve certain results by the end of the year," said the head of the EU Delegation.

Stating that a shift was made last year on both the Serbian and EU sides, Giaufret points out that it should continue in the same direction.

Asked whether he meant alignment with EU's foreign policy, i.e. introducing sanctions against Russia, Giaufret recalled that it is certainly the obligation of every candidate country for EU membership to progressively harmonize with the EU foreign policy.

"There are, of course, all those interventions that the EU included as a countermeasure against Russian aggression. We certainly count on Serbia, more generally speaking, to be with the EU on that issue as well," stated Giaufret.

Giaufret also said that there are many initiatives to speed up the accession process of the entire region.

"The fact is that the topic of EU enlargement is even more on the agenda, not only in the European Parliament, but also in the European Council, the European Commission and the Foreign Policy Service, which is due, among other things, to that sense of urgency because of the new geopolitical context, and that is Russian aggerssion on Ukraine, so we see that it is necessary to move forward faster," said Giaufret.

He said that the summit in Brussels reaffirmed unequivocal commitment to membership in the Union of the countries in the Western Balkans and commitment to accelerate the accession process, which should be based on merit.

"It should be stressed that there are no shortcuts for anyone, for Ukraine, for Moldova, for Serbia or for others. The EU is a strong family that is strong because of respecting the rules, and that is exactly why they insist on the necessity of continuing reforms so that the candidates can achieve membership as soon as possible," stressed Giaufret.

(Telegraf.rs)