Brnabic: EC more than fair, Baltic, Scandinavian and Benelux states biggest opponents of opening Cluster 3

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic said on Monday there was a difference between the European Parliament and the European Commission (EC) when it comes to Serbia's EU integration and noted that the EC was "more than fair", while the Baltic, Scandinavian and Benelux states were the biggest opponents of opening Cluster 3 in Serbia's EU accession talks.

There has also been no success with Germany in that regard, Brnabic told K1 TV.

She said representatives of Serbia's former authorities were the country's biggest obstacle on the EU path as they constantly went to Brussels and Strasbourg to plead against opening Cluster 3 with Belgrade and kept saying Serbia was a dictatorship with no rule of law.

She also said representatives of a series of civil society organisations also travelled around Europe with the narrative that Serbia by no means deserved to open Cluster 3.

"The people from the European Commission - which is something like an EU government - are what I believe European values are and why I think Serbia should build a path to the EU. To me, that is what the EC is. They do not make decisions, but they tell you whether you have met all the requirements you need to meet and whether you are making progress on the EU path or not," Brnabic said.

In its last five reports on Serbia, the EC has said the country has met all requirements and, for four years, the Commission has practically been appealing to EU member states to open Cluster 3, Brnabic said, adding that, in terms of preparedness and benchmarks, Serbia remained an accession front-runner.

Serbia constantly faces new conditions for opening the cluster, which should have taken place in 2021, Brnabic said.

"I was PM at that time, I discussed that. Both Cluster 3 and Cluster 4 should have been opened in December 2021," Brnabic said, noting that she was "committed to our EU path but not a Euro-fanatic" and that she was "irritated by injustice, double standards and hypocrisy."

Brnabic: Difficult times ahead of Serbia due to global situation, unity important

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic said on Monday difficult times were ahead of Serbia politically due to the global situation and that greater unity within the country was important to preserve stability.

"Politically, very difficult times are ahead of us, not because of internal circumstances," Brnabic said on K1 TV.

"Very difficult, unstable and challenging times are ahead of the whole world. I think that, from that, we need to learn what, simply put, was practically the conclusion of the National Security Council - that we should rely on ourselves only. I hope we will have the strength to understand how challenging these times are and that we will have greater unity within the country because, above all, it is important to preserve stability, as well as stability in the region, because that is what our further growth and progress depends on," Brnabic said.

She noted that the ruling Serbian Progressive Party wanted Serbia to be a sovereign and independent country, while some opposition parties wanted it to be a colony. Asked about the state of Serbia-US relations, Brnabic said the relations were good. "(US President Donald) Trump has promised an 'America First' policy to Americans.

He is pursuing that policy and, economically, that policy is a protectionist one. It is based on tariffs, very high tariffs, that are protecting the US economy. Depending on what economic model you believe in, you can agree or disagree with that. Our job is to reduce that to the best extent possible through our contacts and to see where our strategic interests lie, especially since the US is our number one partner in IT services exchange," Brnabic said.

She said FM Marko Djuric was also to be credited for the good relations and communication with the US as he had built strong ties with the US administration during his tenure as Serbia's ambassador to Washington.

"Good relations with the Trump administration is what we have in institutions," she said.

Commenting on a decision by Jarred Kushner's company to give up on a construction project in central Belgrade, Brnabic said blockades in Serbia had been damaging to the country and that the same was the case with any move by pro-blockade activists.

She said it was impossible to lose the good relations with the US overnight.