EU membership is the first priority of this government and there is no doubt about that, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić said in his speech at the European Policy Center Briefing „Serbia’s accession negotiations with the EU: the toolkit fot the to-do list“, in Brussels 10 October 2014.
Dačić expressed hope that Serbia will open the first chapters in the EU accession talks as early as this year. "I know that some EU member states do not share the view that the chapters be opened during the Italian presidency, but we will continue to move towards Europe anyway, at an unrelenting pace," he said.
In regards to the development of the Belgrade-Priština relations, Dačić underlined that Serbia is firmly committed to a continuation of the dialogue, adding that anything that does not interfere with the matter of Kosovo's status is acceptable to Belgrade.
On the issue of alignment, Dačić said that Serbia will gradually align its diplomacy to the EU's common diplomacy. "We are aware of our obligations and there are no disputes about them - the only thing that we do not agree on with the EU is the anti-Russian embargo, which we cannot support, just like we do not support Russia's embargo on EU food imports," Dačić said.
Serbia is not only aligning its foreign policy to that of the EU, but also its security policy, which is reflected by its participation in peacekeeping operations and the joint fight against terrorism, Dačić noted.

For the short EPC summary of the briefing, please click here.