Positive assessment prevails in EC report

BELGRADE - Jadranka Joksimovic, Serbian minister without portfolio in charge of the European integration, has said that positive assessment prevails in the European Commission (EC) report on Serbia's EU integration progress.

"The remarks are mostly in place, and every Serbian citizen knows that the justice system is not functioning well enough and we have to do a lot to make justice faster and more accessible so that verdicts would not be waited for 15 years," Joksimovic told Radio Television of Serbia on Wednesday.

She pointed out that this report is encouraging for Serbia and its citizens as they can see that the country is moving in the right direction.

"All that is being done by the current and previous governments is in the interest of the citizens, although it may seem abstract, but these are chapters that are directly linked to the lives of citizens and our reform agenda," said Joksimovic.

No one from the Serbian government is diminishing the importance of the EC assessment about the state of the media in Serbia, especially in terms of the claim about "deteriorating conditions for the full exercise of freedom of expression,", Joksimovic said.

"Of course there is room for improvement ... I think it is very important to say how to make improvements, identify specific cases and determine why such an opinion is prevalent with the EC," she said.

Commenting on the opening of the accession negotiations with the EU, Joksimovic said that although some believe that chapters 23 and 24, which refer to fundamental rights, rule of law and fight against corruption, could be opened first, it does not have to be that way.

Serbia is ready to start negotiations with Chapter 32 that deals with...