Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-24-Speech-3-307"
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"en.20071024.39.3-307"2
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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Serbia naturally lies within the European space and we all recognise that, in recent years, it has been faced with major challenges; in fact more than this, with extremely difficult challenges due to its importance to the stability and development of the Western Balkan region. The European Union has tried to help Serbia overcome these challenges by reinforcing and making more tangible and visible the benefits of the European perspective.
We have therefore tried to prove to the Serbian people and authorities our commitment to bringing Serbia closer to the European Union. We have tried to show that there is an alternative, by helping the pro-European political and social forces which are favourable to pursuing the necessary reforms to consolidate the country’s democracy and development.
The stabilisation and association agreements represent a fundamental step in bringing the Western Balkan countries closer to the Union. They also form an essential instrument for clarifying the European perspective. In that regard, we feel that it is very positive that the Commission has completed the negotiations with Serbia on the conclusion of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement. We sincerely hope that the conditions for the Commission to sign the agreement will shortly be met.
There is firm political support in the Council for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement to be signed as soon as the necessary conditions are met. However, before the Council can implement the agreement, Serbia must fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court.
The ability for people in Serbia to travel more easily to the European Union would also reinforce the ties between us and undoubtedly contribute to the democratisation process and to the pro-European Union sentiment in Serbian society.
The visa facilitation and readmission agreements which were signed in September and which will enter into force in January 2008 are, in our opinion, vitally important.
The Commission has agreed with Serbia to begin dialogue on the liberalisation of visas after the entry into force of these agreements. The EU has also made it clear to Serbia that its integration process is not linked to the issue of determining the future status of Kosovo. In fact, every country moves towards becoming a member of the European Union on its own merits and in accordance with the conditions of the stabilisation and association process and the Copenhagen criteria.
To conclude, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I must once again reiterate the significance that the Presidency of the European Union attributes to the opportunity of discussing with the European Parliament the importance, for both Serbia itself and the region, of securing a European future for Serbia. There can be no doubt that the Western Balkans remain one of the European Union’s priorities and that our ultimate goal is to create a situation of peace, stability, democracy and prosperity in the region.
This is why we have a vision of the integration of these countries within the Union, with the stabilisation and association process remaining the framework for preparing for this potential accession. Serbia is a country of high geo-strategic importance to the stability of the whole region, which is why progress in this process is essential to achieve the EU’s ultimate goal with regard to the Western Balkans: to see this become a region of stability, peace and progress."@en1
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