Vucevic: Germany wants to see W Balkans in EU, Serbia remains committed to EU path

BERLIN - Serbian PM Milos Vucevic said on Monday in Berlin, where he attended the 10th anniversary Berlin Process summit, that Serbia remained committed to the EU path as its main strategic geopolitical objective and that the impression after the summit was that Germany wanted to see the Western Balkans in the EU.

Speaking to Serbian reporters, Vucevic said the impression was that Germany wanted to revive the project fully and lend it a new impetus, and that many constructive ideas had been presented at the conference.

He added that Serbia had signed two documents in Berlin - an agreement on access to higher education in the Western Balkans and a declaration in support of a common regional market.

"Those are documents we have no objections to, but Serbia always has reservations because we see the Western Balkans as '5+1', and not as six states. Those are our remarks and our red lines we always highlight," Vucevic said.

He said he had outlined Serbia's plan to remain committed to the EU path as its main strategic geopolitical objective.

"Serbia wants to see greater presence of European investments, infrastructure projects. We especially discussed the energy sector, that was the topic in the discussions with the French minister delegate for European affairs and the PMs of Italy and Hungary," Vucevic said.

He said the topics included migrant crises and alignment of visa regimes.

"Some speakers always mention the Russians or the Chinese, that always happens, but my impression is that there was no negative context, but that Germany's desire was to send a message to everyone that they should be a part of the EU."

Responding to a reporter's remark that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had dedicated a large portion of his speech to Belgrade-Pristina relations, calling for a continuation of dialogue and resolution of outstanding issues, Vucevic said two more speakers had touched upon the Belgrade-Pristina relationship in some segments but that it had not been the dominant topic.

"(Pristina's PM Albin) Kurti had a remark about Beijing and BRICS, but there was nothing dramatic about this issue," Vucevic added.

He said Serbia had received a great deal of recognition for its economic performance and implementation of infrastructure projects and that the signing of a memorandum with North Macedonia on building a gas interconnector to Greece had been welcomed at the summit.

"We also have an offer from Romania. I insisted on Corridor 10, (Hungarian) PM (Viktor) Orban noted that, too, and (North Macedonian) PM (Hristijan) Mickoski joined that," he said.

Asked if Germany's policy towards Serbia had changed, Vucevic said he believed Scholz had wanted to send a message that Germany wanted to see the Western Balkans in the EU.