Chapter 23 screening in late June or early July

BECICI - Head of the Serbian team for the accession talks with the EU Tanja Miscevic has said that the screening regarding chapter 23, which refers to the judiciary and basic rights and will probably be the starting point of the talks next year, can be expected in late June or early July, and that the Serbian team is already working on a plan for that chapter.

"We have begun working on a plan of action for the implementation of the recommendations that will arrive from the EU as part of the screening. It cannot happen before late June or early July," Miscevic told reporters in Becici on Friday during a workshop with the Montenegrin team for the accession talks.

The action plan should be approved by the European Commission and then the talks will start.

She described the recent visit to Berlin by a Serbian delegation led by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic as very important, especially now that Serbia was crossing over to a new stage of the talks with the EU and opening certain chapters.

Aleksandar Pejovic, Montenegro's chief negotiator for the accession talks and state secretary for foreign affairs, does not expect changes in the accession talks for the coutries of the region after the recent EU parliamentary election, while Miscevic believes the European Comission will still have an enlargement commissioner after the new commission is appointed.

Montenegro has relied the most on Croatia's experiences in EU accession, Pejovic stated.

The meeting in Becici, which was focused on chapter 23 of the accession talks, was organised by the ministries of justice of Serbia and Montengro and GIZ, a German organisation for international cooperation.

The two teams met to exchange their experiences...