"Germany insists on conditions put before Serbia"

"Germany insists on conditions put before Serbia"

BELGRADE -- German parliamentarians led by CDU deputy Andreas Schockenhoff have said in Belgrade that Germany persists in the seven demands it put before Serbia.

"We asked when the opening of the first (EU) negotiation chapter was expected and we got the answer that they stood by the seven demands. They seek full implementation of the Brussels agreement and in particular to convict the instigators of the burning of the German embassy 2008," opposition NDS party MP Aleksandar Senić said.

He added that the German parliamentarians, who met with their Serbian colleagues on Thursday, "imposed the topic of European integration" and that "European perspective of Serbia was the topic throughout the meeting."

In addition to the said conditions, the Germans also demand judicial reform and the fight against corruption as well as the signing of "some kind of agreement on good-neighborly relations with Kosovo."

Senić said that frequent diplomatic activity in the two months after the formation of Serbia's new government "could represent support, but also reaching of agreement on deadlines for certain conditions to be fulfilled."

After the recent visit to Germany of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, Interior Minister Nebojša Stefanović formed a working group to determine the circumstances in connection with the 2008 embassy incidents.

During Vučić's visit, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Germany would support Serbia on its path towards the EU, but would not ease the conditions it set before the country.