Vucic:We want to put country in order,Ashton pledged support

BELGRADE – Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Monday that Serbia will be the first in this part of Europe to launch talks on the rule of law Chapters 23 and 24 as early as next year, a clear sign that we want to put the country in order, and European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton pledged EU assistance today.

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting he had with Ashton today, Vucic said that the EU high representative’s arrival on the first day after the election of the new government and her visiting only Belgrade, and not the entire region, is a great honor and a good sign for Serbia.

Expressing Serbia’s respect for what she did today, but also for everything else that Lady Ashton has done for Serbia, Vucic said that she had put a tremendeous amount of effort to have Serbia set firmly on its path to membership of the EU and help it accept the Brussels agreement.

“More than many others in the EU, she has been willing to consider Serbia’s views and comments and Serbia’s needs. Today also we discussed important topics, such as the continuation of EU accession and our meeting was not at all a bureaucratic one,” said Vucic.

We want to put our country in order, the prime minister said. We want to see that it does not have to take as many as 25 years for judgments to be delivered, we want our people to know that justice can be done and that our legal system is really functional.

"This is also important to help attract bigger investments, as such investments are made only there where legal systems are well-developed. We expect assistance on this issue and in the training of our people, and Ashton said that we would get the support,” the prime minister said.

He...