Welcoming the members of the Working Party who are visiting the National Assembly for the first time in this format, Committee Chairman Borko Stefanovic stressed that Serbia’s chief foreign policy goal is full membership in the EU and that Serbia should become an EU member as soon as possible. He added that Serbia needs to align its foreign policy with the foreign policy of the EU, as well as that there are numerous problems in Serbia, such as media freedom and the rule of law, which require further work and reforms.

He expressed the expectation that this delegation would contribute to Serbia becoming an EU member as soon as possible, primarily for the sake of the Serbian citizens and for others in the region as well, for which we need concrete progress towards membership. He particularly emphasised that this part of Europe must not be neglected, especially not because of geopolitical changes.

On behalf of Sweden's presidency of the EU Council’s Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU (COELA) based in Brussels, Susanna Leesik reiterated the EU's commitment to Serbia's perspectives for membership in the European Union, recalling that the EU is the country’s largest investor, donor and trade partner. She emphasised the importance attached to the parliament in the political dialogue. The EU member states also stressed how important it is for Serbia to further accelerate and implement reforms in fundamental areas, such as the rule of law and basic human rights, the independence and functioning of the judiciary, freedom of expression, including media freedom, and the fight against corruption and organised crime. The member states reiterated the EU's expectations that Serbia, as a partner country and EU candidate, should comply with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, including the EU's restrictive measures.

In the conversation, the Serbian and parliamentarians from EU member states exchanged opinions and positions on the concretization of Serbia's EU accession process, as well as on the challenges in the accession process. The Serbian MPs also informed the members of COELA in detail about the areas in which Serbia has achieved reform progress, with special emphasis on the constitutional changes and reforms in the field of justice. The Serbian MPs also assessed that the opening of negotiation chapters and clusters does not follow the dynamics of the achieved reforms, with special focus on the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and the constructiveness shown by Serbia in that process, while on the other hand it is still waiting for the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

The conversation, attended by Committee members Marina Ragus, Nemanja Joksimovic, Natasa Jovanovic, Djordje Komlenski, Natan Albahari, Jasmina Obradovic, Andrijana Avramov, Tamara Pilipovic, Sanja Calovic, Zoltan Dani, Draginja Vlk and Ana Miljanic, focused on the exchange of opinions about the conflict in Ukraine and the alignment of ours with the EU's foreign policy. The members of the Committee presented the views of their parliamentary groups on these issues, Committee Deputy Chairperson Marina Ragus informed the European colleagues in detail about Serbia’s state policy and its commitment to these issues, especially when it comes to not imposing sanctions against the Russian Federation.

COELA is the EU Council's Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU.