*interview was published HINA and we transmit it in its entirety
Croatian MEP Tonino Picula, after being appointed as the European Parliament's rapporteur for Serbia, announced that he will insist on assessing Belgrade's progress based on the fulfillment of the requirements set for candidate countries to join the Union. Picula was appointed as the European Parliament's rapporteur for Serbia during the plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday and will be responsible for all topics related to the relationship between the European Union and Serbia over the next five years.
Picula, who has actively engaged in the relations between the Western Balkans and the Union during his mandates, is singled out by the Serbian media close to the authorities as a Euro MP who has a hostile attitude towards Serbia, and his appointment as the European Parliament's rapporteur for Serbia has been described as poking a finger in the eye of Belgrade. In some Serbian media, he is often portrayed as a 'Serb-hater', including in some news reports about his appointment as an EP rapporteur.
"In the past 11 years, I have led delegations for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. In the previous term, I was also the rapporteur for Montenegro, so I already have a kind of resistance to everything that is not justified criticism, which may be ideologically or values colored", Picula responds.
My job is primarily to talk to representatives of the institutions in a certain country who have to do the bulk of the work, because the government is most responsible for the state of a country. It is up to me to communicate expectations and analyze what, according to a general assessment, needs to be done in open discussions with government representatives,
"I assume that the process will be quite complex. However, on my side, I have primarily political experience, both at the European and national levels, and in any case, I will act primarily informed, but also principled“, says the SDP's MEP. "Even if we put aside my appointment to this position and all the interpretations, especially probably in Serbia, it should be said that the European Parliament has always been the most consistent advocate of the enlargement policy", Picula said in an interview for Hina, but also emphasized that the "accession process must continue to be based on meeting the criteria".
It is not enough to just recognize Kosovo
One of the main challenges for Serbia will certainly be, in addition to harmonizing with the legal acquis and values of the EU, the alignment with the current Brussels policy towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine, announced the representative's office. Regarding the situation in Serbia, MEP Picula will prepare reports on behalf of the EP once a year after the presentation of the annual reports of the European Commission. Serbia was granted candidate country status in March 2012, and started accession negotiations with the EU in 2014.
In the negotiations, 22 out of 35 chapters have been opened so far, two of which are temporarily closed. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić admitted this week that the EU-Serbia negotiations are progressing slowly and claimed that it is not because of the rule of law. 'If we were to admit (the fake state) Kosovo or impose sanctions on Russia, we would become an EU member tomorrow,' Vučić said, as reported by Serbian media. Although Vučić rejects such a possibility as unacceptable, Picula adds that even that would not be enough.
It seems to me that these are important elements that would indicate that Serbia is truly changing its attitude towards the political processes that are extremely important for it and its neighbors. But of course, in addition to that, there is a whole range of specific policy elements that Serbia must fulfill on its way to its ultimate goal. We cannot reduce it to just one, two, or three elements which, no matter how important they are, are not enough, Picula said.
There are Copenhagen criteria that may not sound spectacular, but are a guideline through which all other countries have passed. So Serbia will have to do the same, Picula announces.
The Copenhagen criteria are the requirements that the EU sets for candidate countries for accession, from political ones, such as the rule of law, economic and legal, to alignment with the Union's objectives.
European Parliament seeks a full picture
Serbian President has met and signed cooperation agreements in a number of areas with the leaders of the largest European economies, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is coming to visit Belgrade on Friday. It is important to open and close chapters and clusters, but it is equally important whether someone needs them, Picula notices.
"This is a reality in politics, obviously there are leaders of EU member states who see Serbia as a partner from their national interests. How much they take into account the overall situation in Serbia is a question for them", he said. "Of course, the governments of the member states have their criteria, they would like the European Parliament to be less critical and simply not recognize what is problematic for us. And nothing will change, I assume, in this mandate. The European Parliament plays an autonomous role in all of this, but of course it is always a question of how the other two institutions will calibrate their relationship with the enlargement policy, and then within that policy, their relationship with individual countries" .
Accession to the EU is by no means a simple process, he notes. "It is about the transformation of the entire society. When we talk about the Council, of course, it is a strongly colored relationship based on the bilateral interests of individual member states. As for the Commission, it is the one that proposes certain legislative measures, certain mechanisms, but the European Parliament is an institution that, in addition to all that, takes care of respecting certain fundamental values on which the European project is based".
"We in the European Parliament must have a general picture in mind. The European Union is indeed a major trading and financial partner of Serbia, but it is not only banks and large corporations that enter the EU, but the whole country enters", says Picula.
It is up to us in the EP to assess the extent to which Serbian society has progressed, democratized, respects fundamental human rights, and how much it has ensured press freedom, and how independent the judiciary is. If this does not happen, good bilateral relations between Serbia and a EU member state should be noted, but they have little influence on our assessment from the European Parliament, says Picula.
To make progress, fortunately there are the Copenhagen criteria, which are not an invention of either the European Parliament or this generation of politicians.
Picula pointed out in the conversation that he will create the image of Serbia not only through contacts with government representatives but also with representatives of the opposition, civil sector, academic community and of course the business community.
"These contacts will certainly help me to create a more complete picture of the situation in Serbia, which I will report to the institution that appointed me, the European Parliament", Picula said.
