Serbia's priorities- EU integration, dialogue with Pristina

BELGRADE - Ivica Dacic, Serbia's first deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said on Wednesday that Serbia's foreign policy priorities remain the same in 2015 - the further EU integration and dialogue on the normalization of relations with Pristina.

"EU membership remains our first and foremost strategic priority, about which there is the broadest possible social and political consensus in the country," Dacic said at a New Year reception which he hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations, directors, editors-in-chief of media companies.

He noted that the government's foreign policy priorities are also the further dialogue with Pristina, including the implementation of the agreements reached so far, strengthening relations with neighbors and overall regional cooperation.

Serbia's foreign policy priorities are also strengthening relations with the most important actors of European politics, traditional friends and partners across the world, and ensuring that the diplomatic service contributes to the country's economic recovery and internal reforms, Dacic noted.

"We see our path toward EU membership as a historic chance for modernization and changes, to which the government is truly committed," he said, underlining that the EU is Serbia's most significant trading and investment partner.

Dacic voiced the hope that Serbia's EU accession talks will soon be opened, noting that the reform process needs to continue in all fields.

According to Dacic, it is encouraging that the EU integration so far showed that Serbia has the necessary administrative capacities, and that it is capable of passing and implementing the EU acquis within a short timeframe,...