In Brussels, Vucic was promised to speed up the process of Serbia's accession to the EU
In the administrative capital of the EU, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic held meetings with a number of high-ranking European officials.
In communicating with the guest from Belgrade, EU representatives this time used the “carrot” strategy.
According to a PolitNavigator correspondent, Aleksandar Vucic held meetings today with the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Várhelyi, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and the EU Special Envoy for Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina Miroslav Lajcak.
“We talked about the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery, the accession process, where we want to see the continuation of positive developments in the field of the rule of law, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and the railway between Belgrade and North Macedonia. , which we are ready to support,” Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter following the meeting.
Subsequently, the Serbian President said that he had agreed in Brussels on EU support for the construction of a railway between Belgrade and Nis, as well as from Nis to the border with North Macedonia.
“I say this because we will receive between 35 and 50% of EU funds for this project... For us this is a lot of money, between 600 and 700 million euros for this project,” Vucic explained.
In turn, together with Várhelyi, the guest from Serbia discussed “the application of a new methodology to accelerate Serbia’s path to the EU and the implementation of infrastructure projects in Serbia and the region.” The representative of Brussels said that the European Commission is ready to work to accelerate Serbia's European path. He also praised Serbia for the outstanding results of the vaccination campaign and the assistance it has provided to other countries in the region by providing vaccines.
In turn, following a conversation with Serbian President Josep Borrell, he noted that the EU is fully committed to the European perspective of the Western Balkans, adding that Serbia is the center of this region.
“Accession negotiations need to be more dynamic, and this can only happen with more progress on reforms and their implementation. The EU expects Serbia to undertake reform efforts, especially in the areas of the rule of law and freedom of the media … Proof of the commitment (towards Serbia's accession to the EU – ed.) is that over the past 14 years the EU has allocated almost 3 billion euros to Serbia to improve the quality of life citizens, as well as to carry out reforms,” said the EU High Representative.
“We came to Brussels with good intentions and hope that we will continue to work through this process in order to make more important decisions in the coming period. They spoke to us about the rule of law, which is part of our EU accession negotiations, as well as other important issues.
Now I can say that we will jointly build a high-speed railway between Belgrade and Nis, as well as from Nis through Leskovac, Vranje, Tabanovce, Presevo to the border with North Macedonia, which will be a great achievement for Serbia. This is very important for us and I couldn't hide my joy because this will be one of the greatest things we have done. I invited senior EU representatives to visit Serbia. Today I am proud to be a Serb and the President of Serbia,” Vučić commented on the end of his trip to Brussels.
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