Starovic: EC has confirmed Serbia is ready to open Cluster 3

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of European Integration Nemanja Starovic said on Wednesday Serbia had received another positive recommendation from the European Commission (EC) for opening Cluster 3 in its EU accession talks, and noted that Serbia had met all the technical requirements but that a final decision depended on the political will of EU member states.

Speaking to the RTS, Starovic said an "extraordinary" recommendation to finally open Cluster 3 with Serbia had arrived from the EC ahead of meetings by European Council bodies.

"That does not automatically imply consent from the European Council or all member states, but contributes to a positive momentum that has been evident in the past several months," Starovic said.

He said the EC recommendation would be debated by the committee of the member states' permanent representatives in the European Council (COREPER) at deputy ambassador level later in the day and that the ambassadors of the member states would meet on Friday, with the General Affairs Council - comprised of ministers of European affairs - due to meet on Monday.

"Those are three opportunities to discuss, in the next few days, the renewed European Commission recommendation to open Cluster 3. I cannot speak for the member states and prejudge the decision to be made, but it is evident that the circle of support for Serbia is expanding and that there are more member states that were skeptical or negative in December last year but have changed their mind," Starovic said.

He said opening Cluster 3 was a matter of the credibility of the EU enlargement process and noted that, unlike some other candidate countries, Serbia faced very strict criteria and very high expectations.