Apostolovic: Vucic-Rama proposal should be backed by EU, Kos's position unfair

BELGRADE - Serbian Ambassador to the EU Danijel Apostolovic, who also chairs Serbia' Operating Team for EU Accession, said on Thursday a joint call by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Albanian PM Edi Rama for fast-tracked integration of candidate countries into the EU single market and the Schengen Area without the right of veto was an excellent proposal that should be backed by the EU, and added that EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos's position on the matter was unfair.

Commenting on a statement by Kos, who has rejected the proposal, noting that she was "not certain whether Vucic and Rama know how much they need to achieve if they want to be a part of Schengen", Apostolovic said the position was unfair as the EU Growth Plan and the EU insisted on gradual integration while candidate countries awaited full-fledged EU membership, and added that it was Kos's personal stance, and not the position of the European Commission.

"She wanted to say that there are many things that need to be delivered on for a country to become a Schengen area member, because, in the past, Schengen did not come with EU membership, but after it. Nothing is stopping us from starting to fulfil conditions intensively at this stage - no one knows when we and the other candidates will become members, it is a long process. While we are waiting, why should not we integrate with the internal market? That is beneficial to both the candidates and the EU," Apostolovic said in an appearance on K1 TV.

He added that he had spoken with many ambassadors of EU member states in Brussels who liked the Vucic-Rama proposal and would potentially be ready to support the idea.

"What was met with a 'no' from member states is a European Commission proposal for so-called reverse membership, which was put on the agenda after a peace plan for Ukraine leaked, with potential membership for them in 2027. Reverse membership implies that you do not wait until you meet all the required conditions and close all clusters, but become an EU member without the right of veto, without commissioners and without taking part in decision-making in certain working groups, and then, gradually, as you join certain segments, attain the right of vote in those working groups," he said.

Apostolovic said that, in his opinion, reverse membership was a good idea as it made a new member state more motivated to do things better and faster, and added that Vucic himself had said Serbia would be quite in favour of such form of membership.