Serbia: Remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell at the press conference with President Vučić

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President [of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić], once again thank you very much for being here.

I am very happy that President Vučić accepted my invitation to come to Brussels. As you know, the European Union is completely committed to the European perspective of the entire Western Balkans, for sure with Serbia at the core of this region.

That is why today we have been focussing on the accession negotiations of Serbia and the possibilities to increase the speed of this process. President Vučić has met, as you know, all the authorities of the European Union, including, before lunch, the Commissioner in charge of Enlargement, [Olivér Várhelyi].

We have been talking about several specific issues during this lunch.

On the accession negotiations, we need to be more dynamic. But this can only happen if there is more progress on reforms and on their implementation. I stressed to President Vučić that the European Union expects Serbia to deliver on the reform agenda, in particular on the rule of law and media freedom. And we have had a very interesting and positive exchange about these issues.

I had to thank President Vučić for the important contribution that Serbia is [and] has been doing to the European Security and Defence missions and operations. Coming back from [a mission to] the Sahel I know how important are these missions.

Another issue in which we have to engage and to deliver more is on the alignment of Serbia with the [European Union] Foreign and Security policy, with the European Union's decisions and positions, including on restrictive measures - in line with the framework for accession negotiations. Many Member States require a strong alignment of Serbia on this important part of being a member of the European Union, which is the alignment in a Common Foreign and Security Policy.

Finally, but not the least, we talked about the Dialogue and I have to say that I appreciated a lot the commitment of President Vučić to this Belgrade - Pristina Dialogue facilitated by the European Union.

I encouraged President Vučić to continue on this path, to reach a comprehensive legally binding agreement on normalisation of the relations between Serbia and Kosovo. We need the process to continue without delay and to produce results - despite all difficulties that we know are still there.

Then we talked about our bilateral relations, I reiterated once again that the European Union stands by Serbia and its European perspective. We will talk about this in the Foreign Affairs Council in May and I will require Member States to qualify clearly this European perspective, which is something at the core of everything we are dealing [with] and talking about.

A proof of this commitment is that in the last 14 years, the European Union has allocated almost €3 billion to Serbia to improve the life of their citizens, the functioning of the country and to help with the reforms.

And on these days, and specifically today, I have to say that there is a specific programme to which President Vučić allocates a lot of importance - for good reasons, and I understand better these reasons after listening to him - is the rail corridor from Belgrade to the borders with North Macedonia. The President of the Commission [Ursula von der Leyen] has already said that we stand ready to support it and I think it is a very good news. I welcome the decision by President Vučić on working with the European Union on these important projects. We will offer the best possible conditions for a major investment like this, which is - as President [of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić] explained to me - a game-changer from many different points of view, especially for the perception of what the European Union is and what the European Union represents for Serbian citizens and for the whole Balkans.

All in all, I think it was a very good idea to invite you, President [of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić]. It was good that you came, it has been very good to participate in these discussions. I think that we have got commitments on all the issues that I have been mentioning and I am completely sure that in the future it will improve a lot the European perspective of Serbia.

Q&A

Q. I would like to ask you about this phantom non-paper on redrawing of the borders in the Western Balkans that provoked quite a lot of concerns in the region and also criticism that the European Union has not denounced it clearly enough. According to your knowledge does such a non-paper exist and if so who wrote it? Even if the non-paper does not exist the ideas about changing the borders, including not only Kosovo and Serbia but also other countries in the region do exist, they are floating around; are there any discussions going on in the European Union about this? What is your opinion about this?

I have not received this alleged document. You call it a phantom, maybe it is a phantom. I have not seen it, I heard about it, but you know if it is a non-paper, for me it is a non-issue. But I want to use this opportunity to underline the continuous and unequivocal support of the European Union to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as much as [to] the other countries of the Western Balkans.

I think that we should concentrate on things that matter, things that work in a constructive dialogue needed to move Bosnia and Herzegovina forward on its European path, and not to debate about ideas that distract us from our shared work of bringing the whole of the Western Balkans into the European Union. This is the main purpose, one of the most important purposes of my mandate: to bring the whole Western Balkans into the European Union.

In order to clarify this I will have a call maybe today or tomorrow depending on the agenda of all of us, with the Bosnia and Herzegovina trio Presidency [Milorad Dodik, Šefik Džaferović and Željko Komšić] during which I will also pass this message very clearly.

Q. You talked about increased speed for Serbia accession. Do you see Serbia making a big step this year, meaning opening new clusters? On the other side, if the European Union is ready - as you say - and Serbia is also ready for the Dialogue, what can you as a main facilitator in the Dialogue do to bring Pristina back to the table in Brussels?

We are doing our best to make the Dialogue continue. We are going to have a meeting and a discussion with the new Prime Minister of Kosovo [Albin Kurti], who of course is not exactly new, because he was already Prime Minister when we started. I hope that we are going to have a new session of this Dialogue on the scheduled date - on 11 May. I have nothing specific to offer, but just to explain how important it is to continue this Dialogue, because it is the only way of looking for a solution that could be legally binding and acceptable for both parties. Only the European perspective can be the strong incentive for this Dialogue to succeed.

About the opening of new chapters, the President [of Serbia Aleksandar] Vučić has been talking with my colleague the Commissioner [for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér] Várhelyi. I think that the wording of 'opening chapters, closing chapters' is something that the public opinion understands less and less, because it is a technocratic or bureaucratic way of talking.

I just want to remind that the accession is a merit-based process. It is ultimately for Member States to decide on the opening of clusters and it is also depending on the basis of negotiations, defined by Serbia's progress in the implementation of reforms - in particular the rule of law, and the normalisation of relations with Kosovo and also the alignment with the Common Foreign and Security Policy; because if you want to be member of a club that shares a Common Foreign and Security Policy, you have to share it. You cannot have a divergent policy on such an important issue. I think [those are] more important than the number of chapters that we have been opening because they can be open forever. The important thing is the will of advancing on these three issues: the Dialogue, the rule of law and the alignment with the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-204873

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