Djuric: Europe is important for Serbia, but Serbia is also important for Europe

After the meeting, Djuric stated that he is visiting Brussels today because Europe is important for Serbia, but that Serbia is, at the same time, important for Europe as well.

The Minister said that he and Borrell, among other issues, discussed ways for bringing Serbia and the EU as close as possible in the context of fundamental matters.

“Serbia has already made exceptional steps forward in recent years, under the leadership of President Vucic, in strengthening our economy, developing infrastructure, the institutions, where we have already surpassed certain European Union members”, Djuric said.

While noting that Serbia wanted everything it had done well so far to be recognized, Djuric reiterated that the country wished to have an equal seat at the European table and not be treated as a second-rate state in any way.

The Serbian Foreign Minister assessed that Serbia would complete all the difficult reforms, necessary for admission into the EU, by 2027, expressing the hope that Serbia’s efforts would finally be valorized, 27 years after it had embarked on this political path.

The Minister stated that he also discussed with the High Representative the situation facing the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as many specific aspects of the violation of collective political and human rights of Serbs.

“I pointed out the fact that systemic discrimination against Serbs in our southern province continues. Yesterday, 100 new public notaries were appointed in Kosovo and Metohija, and not a single one of them is of Serbian nationality, despite a large number of qualified and skilled Serbian applicants”, Djuric emphasized.

The head of Serbian diplomacy concluded that Serbia would continue with intensive diplomatic activity, primarily based on what is the national interest of Serbia, and not only on what was the most popular in political terms.