Brnabic: I will meet with EP's Picula, his assessment of Serbia's progress is "a disgrace"

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Serbian National Assembly President Ana Brnabic confirmed last evening that she will meet with European Parliament's (EP) permanent rapporteur for Serbia Tonino Picula in Belgrade, even though his assessment in the report on Serbia is "a disgrace."

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"Will it be the most beautiful thing in my life? No. Would I, as Ana Brnabic, like to talk to Tonino Picula? Never. But as the president of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, I have to talk to rapporteurs from the European Parliament," she told Euronews Serbia.

She also pointed out that Picula's assessment that Serbia has achieved limited or no general progress is "a disgrace."

"It's a big disgrace. Shame on him. And we'll see how the European Parliament will react. If it adopts such things, factually incorrect things that are in that resolution, then it will to a degree be shame on the European Parliament as well," said Brnabic.

As previously announced by the EP, the permanent rapporteur for Serbia, Tonino Picula, will visit Belgrade this week as part of an information gathering mission.

During his first visit as a permanent rapporteur for Serbia, Picula will meet with the country's political leadership, members of the government and the opposition, as well as with representatives of the media, civil society and the business sector, a statement added.

According to the EP, the aim of the mission is to gather information for the European Parliament's draft report on Serbia's progress in 2023 and 2024 in its efforts to join the European Union.

On Thursday, Picula presented a draft EP report on Serbia to the EP Foreign Affairs Committee, in which he stated that the overall pace of accession negotiations with the EU will continue to depend on tangible progress in basic values, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as alignment with EU's common foreign and security policy.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)