Fulfilling conditions more important than deadlines for Serbia to join EU - Merkel
Record ID:
1432945
Fulfilling conditions more important than deadlines for Serbia to join EU - Merkel
- Title: Fulfilling conditions more important than deadlines for Serbia to join EU - Merkel
- Date: 18th September 2019
- Summary: VARIOUS OF MILITARY HONOURS FOR BRNABIC
- Embargoed: 2nd October 2019 15:34
- Keywords: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic military honours Brexit
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002AX6NMM1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday (September 18) Germany supported Serbia's progress towards joining the European Union but fulfilling the conditions for membership was more important than setting timeframes.
Holding a joint news conference with Serbia's Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Merkel said that Serbia was making progress in economic and judicial reforms, but that its unresolved relationship with Kosovo needed to be addressed.
Brnabic said Serbia viewed the EU as a peace project, and said long-term stability in the Balkans could only be achieved if the whole region joined the bloc.
EU officials have in the past said Serbia could join the bloc by 2025, but Merkel said she could not say exactly when Serbia would become a member.
The EU-sponsored dialogues between Belgrade and Pristina were halted last November when Kosovo introduced a 100% tax on goods produced in Serbia, pledging to remove it only when Belgrade recognises Kosovo as a sovereign state.
Majority-Albanian Kosovo declared independence in 2008, almost a decade after NATO air strikes wrested control of the territory away from Belgrade, ending a brutal counter-insurgency by Serbian security forces.
Serbia still considers Kosovo part of its territory and has blocked Pristina's membership in international organisations including Interpol and UNESCO. It has also asked some countries to revert their decision to recognise Kosovo as a sovereign state.
(Production: Oliver Barth, Fanny Brodersen, Michele Sani) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: Audio restrictions: This clip's Audio includes copyrighted material. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing the audio contained in this clip.