Dacic: EU should keep its focus on Western Balkans

BERLIN - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic said in Berlin on Wednesday that it is vital for the EU to keep its focus of attention on the Western Balkans because European perspective is the key factor when it comes to improvement of regional cooperation and success in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

Addressing the sixth conference of South-East European ministers of foreign affairs organised by the Aspen Institute, Dacic said that the success of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue has shown that the enlargement policy still represents a strong driving force for the Western Balkans, and asserted that the EU is an inextricable factor in the promotion of peace and stability in the region.

This is why it is essential for the European Union to keep its focus of attention on the Western Balkans, Dacic told the conference in Belrin as reported by the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also expressed the belief that this is also in everyone's best interest.

We expect the topic of enlargement to remain in the focus of attention of the EU and its member countries during the mandate of the new European Commission and the new composition of the European Parliament, Dacic said.

Serbia is committed to the continuation of an active and constructive policy of regional cooperation and normalisation of the relations with Pristina, as confirmed by the staging of the regional conference of Western Balkan ministers of foreign affairs and economy on economic management and connections in Belgrade on October 23, Dacic said.

Serbia's key foreign policy priority is embodied in full EU membership and the vision of a joint European future is the vision shared by everyone in the Western Balkans, he...