Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn visited Belgrade on November 20. On his first official visit to the Western Balkans in his new capacity, Commissioner Hahn had meetings with President Tomislav Nikolic, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic, as well as many other Ministers. During his visit Hahn also met with representatives of the National Assembly, NGOs and IFIs.
After his meeting with Commissioner Hahn, President Tomislav Nikolic pointed out that Serbia wants to become a member of the European Union and it will patiently participate in the negotiations and solve potential problems.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that he did not ask from Hahn the opening of negotiations with Serbia before end of 2014 or any date. Serbia should continue to do its job and the European Union will assess when to open chapters 32, 35, 23 and 24, he underlined. We want to see the most difficult chapters of the accession talks be opened at the start, he said, adding that Serbia has done a very good job on the expert level. Serbia is on a European path and its strategic goal is EU accession, because it wants to become a modern and well organised country, he underscored.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic underlined that we see EU membership as a joint work and partnership between Western Balkan countries and EU, adding that Serbia finds EU role to be very useful in process of resolving problems in our region.
Commissioner Johannes Hahn stated that he came to Belgrade to once again assure Serbian people and authorities that the European Commission and the European family of peoples are Serbia's partner on the EU pathway. He expressed certainty that in the coming weeks or months, Serbia will open the first chapter in the EU accession talks, adding that usually the first to be opened are Chapters 23 and 24 referring to the rule of law, judiciary and basic rights.
He underlined that the EU membership will be valuable for Serbia, bringing welfare to the citizens of Serbia. The EU Commissioner said that he plans to organise investment conferences in Serbia in order to encourage investments and creation of jobs. Serbia is on a good path, it is working on the fight against corruption, improving judiciary and these are all necessary conditions for the arrival of new investors, Hahn said.