Miscevic meets with delegation of Polish parliamentary committee

BELGRADE - Serbia's European Integration Minister Tanja Miscevic met on Tuesday in Belgrade with a delegation of the Polish parliamentary committee on EU affairs, headed by Chairman Kacper Plazynski, to discuss Serbia's main reform challenges on the path to EU membership, bilateral cooperation with Poland and the country's support to the EU integration process.

Miscevic outlined the main elements of key reforms underway in Serbia, in particular in the field of rule of law, as well as reforms related to energy diversification, her ministry said in a statement.

The parties also discussed the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and Serbia's efforts to ensure collective legal protection to Kosovo-Metohija Serbs through the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities, more than ten years after the signature of the Brussels Agreement.

Miscevic informed the delegation of Serbia's position on the war in Ukraine and, in particular, of the firm position of non-avoidance of EU sanctions and of the level of alignment with the EU common foreign and security policy.

Plazynski said Poland strongly supported EU membership for Serbia and the Western Balkans because, without EU enlargement, there was no successful partnership for confronting today's challenges.

He especially noted that the strong support to Serbia on the path to EU membership was based on a traditional friendship between the citizens of Poland and Serbia.

He pointed out the significance of Serbia's successful economic reforms and said they needed to be accompanied also by a strengthening of media pluralism and rule of law.

He noted that the fight against corruption was one of the greatest results of Poland's transition and added that there were possibilities for cooperation and experience-sharing in that area, too.

The parties agreed that Serbia's successful policy on protection of national minority rights, including the rights of a Polish minority, was also important for the relations between the two countries.

They also discussed bilateral cooperation in experience-sharing in the integration process, energy sector reforms and in environmental protection and agriculture.