Greece's Venizelos meets with Serbian officials

Greece's Venizelos meets with Serbian officials

"We will do everything, even though elections are underway, so that Serbia does not lag behind in the process of European integration, which means that elections will not interfere with what Serbia should do on the way towards the EU, that is, reforms and implementation of agreements with Priština," Dačić was quoted as saying.

Venizelos, who is also the chairman of the EU Council of Ministers, said that the commencement of negotiations and the entry of Serbia into the EU will be crucial for the stability of the Western Balkans, expressing satisfaction that the negotiations formally began on January 21, during the Greek presidency of the EU.

Venizelos first met with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić on Tuesday morning, He will also confer with First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, and Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkić, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.

The main topics are be Serbia's further advancement along the path toward the EU, situation in the region and bilateral relations, the release notes.

Venizelos pointed out earlier that he was coming to Belgrade to convey a message of support and encouragement to Serbia's further European prospects and the reform process in the country.

"At the same time, as deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Greece, I come to reaffirm the strong ties of friendship and cooperation that have brought our countries closer together for many years," Venizelos said in an interview to Tanjug ahead of the visit.

Venizelos is coming to Serbia as part of his tour of the Western Balkans.

The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that after the talks with Serbian officials on Tuesday, Venizelos will go to Podgorica.

According to the schedule, the Greek foreign minister will be in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday, and then visit Priština the same day, and Skopje and Tirana on Thursday.

"Member in 2020"

Evangelos Venizelos and Ivica Dačić expressed hope Tuesday that Serbia will soon meet the criteria to become a member of the European Union (EU) in 2020, and Venizelos pledged that Greece will during its EU presidency do everything to help Serbia open as many negotiating chapters as possible.

“We will do everything possible to have as many chapters in the (accession) negotiations (between the EU and Serbia) opened during the Greek EU presidency, so that the negotiations can progress as fast as possible and that Serbia can join the EU by 2020,” Venizelos said at a joint press conference after meeting with Dačić in Belgrade.

Venizelos, who also serves as Greek foreign minister, pointed out that accession negotiations are not dealing only with political but also technical issues and Greece is ready to offer Serbia all the technical assistance along the way.

Even after the expiry of its EU Council of Ministers presidency mandate, Athens will do everything possible to keep the pace of Serbia’s negotiations at a high-level, Venizelos said.

“The start of the negotiations and the very accession of Serbia to the EU will be vital for stability in the Western Balkans,” he added, expressing satisfaction about seeing that everyone in Serbia is aware that the elections need not affect the accession negotiations process.

“Despite the election campaign being underway, we will do all to make sure Serbia is not lagging behind in the European integration process, and this means that the elections should not leave any bad trace in the accession process and in the reforms Serbia needs to carry out and, of course, in the dialogue with Priština,” Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić said.

Dačić said that Serbia wants to meet all the technical criteria by 2018 so it can become an EU member in 2020.

Dačić and Venizelos agreed that Serbia and Greece have good and close relations, and the Serbian prime minister said that Greece “is perhaps Serbia’s biggest friend in the EU, ” expressing gratitude to Athens for always understanding and supporting Belgrade’s efforts.

Having invested about EUR 2 billion in Serbia, Greece is the third biggest direct investor in the country, the two officials said and called for further improvement of business cooperation and search for joint interests that would strengthen the entire region.

Venizelos said that it was agreed the two governments hold a joint meeting in the second half of 2014.

Venizelos is in Serbia as part of a Western Balkans tour during which he will also visit Podgorica, Sarajevo, Priština, Skopje and Tirana.

Greece, which is supporting the Western Balkan’s bid to become a part of the EU, took over the six-month rotating EU presidency on January 1.