Macut: Serbia very close to joining EU, political obstacles a problem

BELGRADE- Serbian PM Djuro Macut said on Wednesday Serbia was very close to joining the EU but that political obstacles were preventing that from taking place.

Addressing the Euronews Adria Summit at the Palace of Serbia, Macut said Serbia had met all the technical conditions for EU accession and that a decision by EU member states was what was still needed for it to happen.

"I think we are really closer than ever to joining the EU, because we have met all the preconditions. At various meetings I have had as PM, I felt that everyone understands and respects us," Macut said at the conference, which aims to open a platform for dialogue on key social, political and economic topics in the Western Balkans.

He said he saw the annual European Commission report on Serbia's progress as being more critical than laudatory and that there was a "trigger" for opening Cluster 3 in the EU talks.

"Serbia has been on the EU integration path for a long time now. We have made important steps forward and accelerated our pace in the past several months," Macut said.

He said the structure of outstanding commitments was slowing down the progress.

"We have met 65 per cent of the accession requirements, while some countries have higher percentages," Macut said, adding the 20-30 per cent of the criteria was related to the policy on third countries and sanctions.

Asked whether Russia was using Kosovo-Metohija to maintain its influence in Serbia, Macut said Russia was a traditional friend that understood Serbia's situation as it, too, had gone through various forms of disintegration and structural changes in the past several decades.

Asked about the feasibility of Serbia's policy of not introducing sanctions on Russia, Macut said he believed the policy was feasible, but in coordination with European partners.