Djuric: EU incomplete without Serbia

PRAGUE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric met in Prague on Monday with Czech Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvorzak and noted that Serbia planned to complete its reform process - above all, legislative, economic and political reforms - within three years.

Djuric thanked Czechia for its continued support to Serbia regarding its key foreign policy objective of EU membership, noting that Serbia belonged in the EU but that the EU was also incomplete without Serbia.

He noted as important the fact Czechia, as a member of the informal Friends of the Western Balkans group, as well as within the Visegrad and the Slavkov groups, was pushing for faster EU integration of the entire Western Balkan region, recognising its geostrategic significance.

"You can count on us preserving regional stability because we have a sincere will to advance our relations with everyone in the Western Balkans," Djuric said.

In view of the fact the EU is the leading economic market for Serbia and that Czechia has an important role in that by all external trade parameters, Djuric informed Dvorzak of Serbia's activities in the preparation of a reform agenda that, along with implementation of other planned reforms, would deepen regional economic integration further and bring the Western Balkans closer to the single EU market.

The parties devoted special attention to the situation in Kosovo-Metohija and the state of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.