Djuric: Serbia sent strong message from Belfast that it is ready for EU

BELFAST - Serbian FM Marko Djuric said on Thursday he was pleased Serbia had sent a strong message from a Western Balkans summit in Belfast that it was prepared for the EU and that it wanted, and deserved, an equal seat at a table where decisions on security, political and other issues in Europe were made.

Speaking to reporters after a closed-door Hillsborough Castle meeting hosted by the UK for Western Balkan and EU FMs, Djuric said a series of topics had been discussed and that top officials of EU member states had reiterated their commitment to EU enlargement.

"We first discussed European integration. For us, it is very important that, ahead of the upcoming visit to Belgrade by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Serbia has prospects of getting an equal seat at the European table," Djuric said, adding that ways to accelerate the region's EU integration had been discussed as well.

He said a sensitive topic - reconciliation in the region - had been addressed, too.

Djuric said the Serbian delegation had tried to act in a different way - not to get into disputes or point its finger at anyone, but to look to the region's future in a responsible way in order to save its young generations and harness its potential.

"I am representing our fatherland Serbia, which, in less than a decade, has succeeded in more than doubling its economy and, for us, it is crucial to have open channels of cooperation with neighbours," Djuric said.

He said that, on the other hand, future challenges had been discussed as well and that he had spoken about Serbia's presidency over the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and the economic challenges of AI, as well about the spheres of information and political processes in the region.

He said that concrete regional problems and topics, including the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Belgrade-Pristina relations and other issues, had been discussed, too.

"We always take every opportunity to present the facts," he said.

"Passions were high in some of the speeches, however, we stuck to the facts and to a constructive, future-oriented approach," Djuric said.