Good day for Serbia in EP

STRASBOURG - Serbia's Minister with Portfolio in charge of European integration Jadranka Joksimovic welcomed Wednesday's adoption in the European Parliament (EP) of a resolution on Serbia's progress in European integration.

Joksimovic told Tanjug that the resolution was very balanced, making recommendations to open EU accession negotiations chapters during the current year, and supporting Serbia's efforts to step up the European integration process through reforms.

I can tell that everybody has the impression that Serbia is the most serious candidate for membership and that they are supporting our economic reforms, political stabilization, and efforts to strengthen institutions and regional cooperation, said Joksimovic.

She, however, said that she could give any specific date for the start of accession chapter talks, since the European Commission president had said that there would be no new members admitted to the EU over the following five years.

Honestly speaking, five years would not be enough time for us to meet all the requirements anyway, but in six to seven years, Serbia will be ready, said Joksimovic.