The European Integrations Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the European Movement in Serbia, with the support of the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Predrag Markovic, and the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, organised, on 15 January, at the Sava Centre, a roundtable on “National consensus on the European future of Serbia”.

The aim of the meeting was to provide a forum where relevant organisations and institutions, invited to take part in the debate, could articulate their commitment to accelerating the process of European integration.

The debate was opened by the Chairman of the National Assembly, Predrag Markovic, who underlined that, in addition to the consensus expressed in the Resolution on Joining the European Union, it was vital to achieve cohesion within society on integration into the European Union.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Miroljub Labus, said that Serbia could join the European Union in 2012, adding that this plan was ambitious, but not impossible to realise, if favourable circumstances prevailed.

The head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, Maurizio Massari, stressed that joining the European Union was a strategic aim of Serbia. He added that Serbia was not in a position to set requirements for integration, but rather that it had to meet them, underlining that the policy of co-operation with the Hague Tribunal, as implemented thus far, has failed to yield appropriate results.

The Secretary General of the European Movement, Danijel Pantic, presented results of research carried out by the Centre for Policy and Public Opinion Research Centre of the Social Sciences Institute, according to which confidence of the public in the European Union was greater that that in other international institutions.

The chairperson of the European Integrations Committee of the National Assembly, Ksenija Milivojevic, said that a year ago more than 70 percent of the public were in favour of joining the European Union, but that only two percent knew what the accession process entailed. She cited the figures to stress the necessity of holding debates such as this one.

Special Adviser to the Office of European Integration of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Milica Delevic-Djilas, spoke about the creation of national consensus. She said that a draft strategy paper would be prepared by early February, as well as that the document could be adopted as early as April.

Representatives of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, religious communities and non-governmental organisations took part in the debate. More than 150 people attended the discussion on national strategy of integration into the European Union; such meetings are planned to be held more frequently in all major Serbian cities.