Kosovo Progress Essential, Fule Tells Serbia

The EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fule, said Serbia will need to honour all agreed deals with Kosovo if it wants to make progress on its EU accession bid.

In an interview with the Belgrade-based magazine Press, he said that Europe expects Serbia “to comply with the requirements of the Stabilization and Association Agreement and respect all its international agreements".

He said the EU also requires "clarification of the status, functions and financing of the structures in the north Kosovo,” - a clear reference to Serb-run local authorities in northern Kosovo that are paid from the Belgrade budget.

“At the same time, the EU is requesting Pristina to reach out to the people in north Kosovo and to initiate an inclusive and long term strategy for North,” he added.

When it comes to the current dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Fule says that both sides need to show more willingness to budge.

“In my recent contacts with both sides, I called for the maximum flexibility in order to find a feasible solution that is acceptable for both parties,” Fule said.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. But Serbia does not recognize the new country and Belgrade has refused to participate in forums and conferences where Kosovo is represented as an independent country with its own state symbols.

During negotiations on this issue, Pristina has been insisting that Kosovo should be represented as "The Republic of Kosovo", a formula that Belgrade finds unacceptable.

For its part, Belgrade insists on Kosovo being represented in regional talks with reference to the 1999 UN Security Council Resolution on Kosovo, Number 1244, which Pristina rejects.

Last December, the European Council postponed a decision on Serbia's EU candidacy bid, conditioning a green light on further progress in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

When it comes to parliamentary elections in Serbia, due on May 6, Fule says the European Union won’t get involved.

“It is not for me to decide who is more European or give points or labels to Serbian politicians. But big Europeans tend to combine two features: they have genuine European vision and they take persistent and constant actions to make this vision a reality,” Fule said.

“We want to cooperate with both sides," he added. "At the meetings I have, I invite [Serbian] opposition leaders to take an active and responsible role in the process of EU integration, ” Fule continued.

Beside the Kosovo dispute, Fule said Serbia has to work harder on the fight against corruption.

“Although Serbia has set a strong legal and institutional base in the corruption fight, work in this area needs to continue so it can achieve solid and lasting results,” he concluded.

Herman van Rompuy, president of the European Council, has said that EU foreign ministers will decide whether to give Serbia candidate status in February, while the final word will come from the EU heads of state meeting in March.