Bilcik says report supports Serbia’s strategic goal

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26. apr. 2023. 13:26

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European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia Vladimir Bilcik MEP said on Wednesday that he wanted to draw up a realistic and balanced report, while supporting Serbia's strategic goal of membership in the European Union.

He said in remarks after the report was adopted by the EP Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) that it welcomes the way the elections were conducted in April 2022 noting certain critical issues, and welcomes the return of the opposition to the Serbian parliament. “We stand ready to work on improving parliamentary culture and procedures,” he said and added that it calls for a strengthening of the independence of the judiciary, fight against organized crime and corruption and a more independent media environment.

N1 asked Bilcik whether his meetings with Telekom Serbia officials led to a toning down of the parts of his report on the state-controlled company and he replied that all his meetings about Serbia were official, transparent and recorded, adding that he also met with journalists from the KRIK investigative news portal and representatives of United Media.

“We expect all political leaders in Serbia to take a clear stance and condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Russia's influence remains a problem in Serbia… The EU gave a clear signal to our partners in the Western Balkans region: in war times, we must stand together,” he said, adding that a large part of his report deals with energy policy, notably cutting off dependence on Russia and fossil fuels and improving environmental issues”.

Commenting the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, he said violence against the Kosovo Serbs is unacceptable as is intimidation of people working towards a European future of the region.

“In the last months and days, we have seen a window of opportunity to reach a long-overdue normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo. This will require a European vision, genuine commitment to negotiating in good faith and a certain degree of political courage from leaders on both sides,” he said adding that a “sincere communication campaign”, will show the public the benefits of a solution.