Vucic's message after the meeting with Mogherini: Good timing, good address

Good timing, good address - so the message of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, after meeting with Federica Mogherini, could be explained as short as possible, that it is time for Brussels to accelerate Serbia's EU accession.

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- The newly elected president did not chose this moment by chance for this unusual, explicit request, and Mogherini is a well chosen address, and analysts are marking, convinced that Vucic, from the position of the chief of the state and authority of the function, wants to encourage European officials to focus their "group of candidates" attention towards Serbia, its position and European perspective.

- The newly elected president did not chose this moment by chance for this unusual request - German political analyst specializing in the Western Balkans, Bodo Veber said for Tanjug.

- The moment is good - said Jelica Minic from the European movement and adds that Mogherini is a good interlocutor, because "reviving" of the process of enlargement for Western Balkan is priority for her.

There are more reasons for good timing, of course - from the most simple one, that Serbian citizens are tired of praises and they expect some solid answer, up to that Vucic probably wanted the Serbian future in Europe to be perceived separately from "Balkan package", but also to receive concrete confirmation that the EU's criterion for joining the EU is not military neutrality, but progress in reform and constructive cooperation in the region.

Foto: Tanjug/KANCELARIJA ZA SARADNJU SA MEDIJIMA PREDSEDNIKA SRBIJE

However, Veber points out that Vucic's message came after the first post-election round of dialogue, because, as she explains, it is not clear how the dialogue will continue, and thus the accession process.

He believes that it will be probably difficult to form government in Kosovo till the end of the year, which makes it unclear how the dialogue will continue, and progress in the dialogue is linked with, he said, with the progress in the accession process.

According to him, it is obvious that Belgrade became impatient:

- But meeting this requirement of Serbia would make foundations for the principles and the accession process. How to talk about the date, when it is not known how Serbia will meet the conditions set before it - said Veber.

However, Program Director of the Center for European Studies Milena Lazarevic, believes that Vucic chose a good moment to "ask in more explicit way to speed up the process of European integration and to concretize the final goal of Serbia's accession to the EU":

Foto: Tanjug/Dimitrije Goll

- Now we have a dialogue with Pristina at the higher, presidential level - Lazarevic points out.

- It's not a bad thing for Serbia to make a concrete perspective, because it can serve as a kind of stimulus to European representatives, but also to our authorities, to carry out the reforms diligently and consistently - she said.

According to her, so far the accent was on the full readiness of Serbia as a candidate and on the need to implement reforms for ourselves, which, she notes, is good, because, as she says, the dialogue was placed from date to content.

- On the other hand, there is fatigue if this is done without any specific goal, that is, without the end of the process in sight - she warns.

Namely, Lazarevic believes that it is necessary to raise enthusiasm in the public, but also in the Serbian administration.

Jelica Minic reminds that Federica Mogherini lately emphasizes in each of her presentations about the Western Balkans that this will be one of her priorities in the upcoming period.

It is certain that Mogherini was a good address president Vucic addressed to, Minic said.

- Bearing in mind that the Berlin plus initiative has been launched, of which we do not know enough details, it is obvious that there are more encouragements for the part of the region - says Minic for Tanjug.

On the other hand, she considers that the popularity of the EU in the population of the region is decreasing, much more will have to be done on both sides, that everything EU does and does inside EU - for that everything to reach our citizens.

Foto: Tanjug/AP

This is a two-way path, she said, in which both sides must have a much more active approach.

Minic also points to the fact that Vucic sent a message to Brussels at a time when there are talks about restoring the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

That is why, Minic believes, all of this should be looked at in the following way: "come on, we are moving forward, we will continue the dialogue, we will try to improve relations between Belgrade and Pristina, but, give us some guarantees about our future in the EU".

Jelica Minic emphasizes that this should not mean that it is an unacceptable idea for Serbia to discuss the common positions of the entire region, because, she recalls that precisely such initiatives came from president Vucic.

- It is possible to use various approaches in some negotiating tactics, so one does not exclude other - Minic concluded.

(Telegraf.co.uk / Tanjug)