KACIN: Serbia's EU accession talks not to start this year

(Jelko Kacin)

European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin has continued his three-day visit to Serbia and will meet with Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Deputy Prime Minister Suzana Grubjesic on Tuesday.

Kacin started the visit in Novi Sad on Monday by saying that Serbia should not expect to get the start date for the accession talks by the end of the year. He explained in Zrenjanin and Belgrade later that the country's key problem was corruption within the system.

The start date for the accession talks will not come this year, and it will be announced when Serbia proves it is ready for the EU accession process, Kacin stated.

After meeting with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Kacin said he and Nikolic had agreed the corruption within the system was a cancer on the society, but that he believed the current government and president could lead Serbia forward and that it was a requirement for the recovery of the country and the region.

Kacin praised moves the Serbian government has made so far in the fight against crime and corruption, stressing that the struggle to reform the judiciary should remain a priority for the government.

Touching on to the situation in the southern Serbian province, Kacin said that efforts to secure multi-ethnicity and rule of law were a central activity of the European institutions in that region.