Djuric: Serbia wants to join EU as soon as possible

BELGRADE - Speaking to reporters after a meeting with German FM Johann Wadephul in Belgrade, Serbian FM Marko Djuric said they had agreed that bilateral relations were developed and comprehensive and that there was readiness to advance them further, and noted that Serbia wanted to become an EU member state as soon as possible.

"We believe Serbia's future and place is in Europe," Djuric said at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He noted that Germany was Serbia's key partner, not only when it comes to economic cooperation, but also in terms of reforms on the EU path.

"Serbia wants to become an EU member state as soon as possible," Djuric said, adding that the EU was a strategic objective for Serbia.

"In the EU, we see an opportunity for a change in the paradigm of relations in our region and an opportunity to create a different future," he said.

He said the EU was the largest peace project in the history of the European continent and that Serbia must redouble and triple its reform efforts to accomplish that objective.

He asked Germany for further support for opening new clusters in Serbia's EU accession talks as well as for its progress on the EU path.

Djuric said the Berlin Process was one of the most significant instruments of regional cooperation and that, at the meeting with Wadephul, he had made an offer that Serbia play a more significant role in the Berlin Process, and added that it was determined to do much more in the coming years to continue to change the paradigm of overall economic and political relations and strengthen ties with Germany.