Starovic: Serbia close to opening Cluster 3, recognition of "Kosovo" no condition for EU membership

BELGRADE  Serbia's European Integration Minister Nemanja Starovic said on Monday Serbia was very close to electing the members of the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) and passing a law on a unified electoral roll, which he noted would again unlock the possibility of opening Cluster 3 in the EU accession talks by the end of the year, and stressed that a recognition of the so-called Kosovo was no formal condition for Serbia's EU membership.

Speaking to K1 TV, Starovic said Serbia was very close to delivering on a set of undertaken reform commitments and that certain progress had been made in the past few weeks when it comes to electing the REM Council, as well as that he expected amendments to the law on the electoral roll to be passed very soon.

"That will again unlock the possibility of opening Cluster 3 by the end of this year. I would not take it upon myself to announce or promise anything, because, ultimately, the decision is up to the 27 (EU) member states, but I think we are close to that moment," he said.

Asked if the Kosovo-Metohija issue was the "biggest obstacle and challenge" on Serbia's EU path, Starovic said a recognition of the so-called Kosovo was not a formal condition and that Chapter 35 of the accession talks stipulated reaching a comprehensive legally binding agreement on normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina relations.

"Of course, some are reading into this a commitment of mutual recognition, but that is not written anywhere that way because, if it was defined that way, there would, of course, be no EU membership path for us as we all primarily care about safeguarding vital national interests," Starovic noted.