Serbian FM says EU should give Belgrade more credit for efforts

“We expect our activities on the European path to be evaluated adequately. We want more credit for what we have done so far,” he told the 21^st Belgrade Economic Forum. Selakovic said that the Open Balkans initiative is not an alternative to European Integration but an indicator that Belgrade does not want to waste time until the EU shows political readiness to tackle expansion.

Selakovic said that it’s important for the EU to realize that Serbia is facing a situation different from what central European countries in the accession talks. “Those countries had precise conditions and an exact date for EU membership and in our case we have no final list of conditions but a moving target. Once we meet one condition we get a new one and finally we have to date for EU membership,” he said.

He said that Serbia is not changing its foreign policy orientation because 67 percent of its trade is with EU member states and they are the biggest investors in Serbia’s economy.