The Head of the PFG with Germany Vesna Markovic met today with a group of Bundestag members visiting Serbia.
The PFG Head praised the improvement of cooperation between the Serbian and German parliaments in the recent years. Markovic stressed that this cooperation is especially beneficial for Serbia’s European integration process in view of the fact that the national parliaments of the member states decide about the opening of the EU negotiation chapters and acceptance of new members. She added that the economic and political cooperation between Serbia and Germany are also good and Germany is second only to Italy in the value of investments in Serbia and owns companies employing 55 thousand workers in the country.
Markovic went on to say that Chapter 35 – Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, makes Serbia’s EU negotiation unique.
“We do not want our efforts to be overshadowed by the relations with Pristina and have them be the only criterion for Serbia’s EU accession. The EU is the guarantor of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, however in the case of the tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina exposed some flaws in the EU and lack of authority to influence Pristina to revoke this decision “, said Markovic.
Though enlargement is not a very popular topic in the EU these days, the question is what will happen after the parliamentary election, said Markovic, stressing that another unpopular topic, the migrant crisis, has shown that enlargement is essential for the stability in the region and the EU itself.
The German MPs - Armin-Paulus Hampel, Dr Roland Hartwig, Petr Bystron, Nader Amin-Salehi and Matthias Schikorski, visiting Serbia for the first time, praised the country’s pragmatic approach to the Kosovo-Metohija problem and urged for the revocation of the 100% customs tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They reaffirmed their support for Serbia’s European integration process and informed the PFG Head about their views of the EU and the way it should be organized, especially before further enlargement.
The officials also discussed the impact of Brexit and the migrant crisis.
