Economist Goran Nikolić said after studying export volume of Serbian products to the EU member states that Serbia could not boast of good export results.
In his opinion, aside from low export, the problem is also “low qualitative shift in Serbia’s developmentâ€.
Serbia’s main trade partners in 2010 were Germany, Russia and Italy, accounting for one third of Serbia’s foreign trade.
In the first 11 months of 2010, the trade with Germany was worth USD 2.5bn, with Russia USD 2.4bn, and with Italy USD 2.3bn.
Austria will continue to support Serbia’s EU integration and it will strongly oppose the EU’s Balkan fatigue, Austrian FM Michael Spindelegger stated on Friday. During the talks with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić in Vienna, he said that Serbia had made significant progress on its EU path over the past year, the Austrian Foreign Ministry stated in a release.
Austria will continue to support Serbia’s EU integration and it will strongly oppose the EU’s Balkan fatigue, Austrian FM Michael Spindelegger stated on Friday
During the talks with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić in Vienna, he said that Serbia had made significant progress on its EU path over the past year, the Austrian Foreign Ministry stated in a release.
The EU might soon strongly protest against the adoption of dual fuel excise taxes in Serbia, Belgrade’s daily Danas writes.
The newspaper adds that excise on imported oil derivatives is higher. Quoting well-informed sources from the Serbian government, Danas writes that European companies are “discriminated by the move”.
Serbia’s Ambassador to U.S. Vladimir Petrović has stated that the U.S. supports Serbia’s EU integration process.
He added that this had already been stated by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to Belgrade.
Serbia’s total external trade from January to November added up to USD 23.97bn, Statistical Office of Serbia Director Dragan Vukmirović stated on Wednesday.
He pointed out that the export – import ratio equaled 58.4 percent and was higher compared to the same period last year, when it was 52.1 percent.
Serbia’s cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) has been very successful this year.
“The IMF Board allowed this week Serbia to take out EUR 373mn for the strengthening of the country’s foreign exchange reserves, since it has made a positive assessment regarding the sixth revision of the stand-by credit arrangement with Serbia,†Serbian Representative with the WB Biljana Chroneos-Krasavac said.
Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Å utanovac has said that the Serbian Army (VS) is the strongest in the region of the former Yugoslavia.
He added that the VS was also the second largest in the Balkans and that there is no military force in the region that could easily defeat Serbia.
Serbia’s relations with the EU and the U.S. have passed a historical turning point, said U.S. professor and NATO and EU expert Charles Kupchan.
Kupchan has assessed that “key event for this change of course was resolution of the UN General Assembly,†daily Politika writes.
Serbia’s goal is to start negotiations on the EU membership in a year, Serbian President Boris Tadić said. He added that Serbia would not be hindered on the EU integration path for its insufficient cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.
EP Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin has stated that Serbia should be absolutely supported on its path toward the EU membership.
He added, however, that it was necessary to successfully complete cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and begin a dialogue with Priština before Serbia’s each next step in that direction.
U.S. has supported Serbia’s candidacy bid ahead of the EU decision on Monday, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Countryman told B92.
He said that the U.S. had positively assessed Serbia’s cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and therefore sent a signal to the EU that it supported Serbia’s candidacy bid.
The Germany government stated that Serbia’s readiness to talk with the European Union regarding Kosovo is a positive sign. The decision of Belgrade immediately after the the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on Kosovo to submit a resolution to the UN General Assembly calling for a solution for Kosovo that is acceptable for all sides did not meet with approval in Berlin.
Washington and its EU allies are working intensively to agree on amendments which would essentially change the Serbian resolution, daily Politika writes. Serbia has sent its draft to the UN General Assembly, and it is expected to be put up for a debate and vote on September 9.
Kosovo Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni said that Serbia’s calls for new negotiations on Kosovo’s status are calls for unrest and destabilization. He told Voice of America that Serbia’s insistence on new talks is destructive.
The U.S. embassy in Belgrade said that Serbia did not hold serious consultations before it submitted a draft Kosovo resolution to the UN General Assembly.
A statement from the embassy, carried by today’s issue of the VeÄernje Novosti daily, points out that all interested parties should have agreed on the text.
Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić said that Serbia does not want a frozen conflict in Kosovo and hopes for new negotiations. “The clearer the conclusion of the UN General Assembly, the greater the chances for this process to end successfully will be,†he said.
Serbia’s chief legal representative in The Hague, Saša Obradović, rejected criticism that Serbia’s demand to the ICJ was poorly formulated. Some international law experts have stated that the question that was asked of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) did not enable the court to give its opinion on the right of the Kosovo Albanians to secede from Serbia.
Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić said that Serbia should not be forced to choose between EU membership and Kosovo. “I am afraid that the ones that believe that Serbia would choose Europe in that case and disown Kosovo are not right,†Jeremić said.
