Macut: Commitment to EU integration priority for Serbia

BELGRADE - Commitment to EU integration is the absolute priority for Serbia, PM Djuro Macut said after a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos in Belgrade on Tuesday, and noted that his government would continue the process strongly.

"Just like Commissioner Kos, too, said, that process is already a long-running one. Serbia is among the countries with the most years and the longest experience in EU accession, and some elements that will be mentioned - that is, accelerating the process of opening new clusters such as Cluster 3 - will be the very foundation of this government's work," Macut said at a press conference with Kos.

He noted that, in his programme, Cluster 3 pertained to processes aimed at enhancing education and science, as well as to the field of culture and information.

"I hope education will be one of the key elements of Kos's visit, that she will support our efforts to establish dialogue, in fact, to maintain dialogue, which has been frozen in the past several months, and that her strong support will result in this process materialising for us as soon as possible, and in getting Serbia back on track in the field of education as early as in the coming days," Macut said.

He said that, even though Serbia's EU accession talks had not progressed at the desired pace, "especially in the past three years," Serbia was "intensively carrying out all reforms with the aim of enhancing rule of law, judicial independence and the fight against corruption."

"That is something that is a standard and that will certainly be bolstered in the coming period through adoption of various legal regulations and, perhaps, new laws in the areas I have already spoken about, above all, in education and science," Macut noted.