Apostolovic: No official EU decision to suspend funds for Serbia, we have submitted a request for payment of the second tranche

The head of the Operational Team for European Union accession and Serbia’s chief negotiator in that process, Danijel Apostolovic, stated that there is no formal decision on freezing EU funds for Serbia and that a request for the payment of the second tranche has been submitted. He emphasized that Serbia responded very quickly and responsibly to the recommendations of the Venice Commission regarding the set of judicial laws and that their adoption in line with the Commission’s guidelines is expected by the end of May, as reported by RTS.

Apostolovic stressed that there is no official EU decision on freezing, suspending, or abolishing funds for Serbia, which had been speculated about in recent days. As he noted, these funds are intended for citizens, for vital projects in the fields of energy, energy diversification, and environmental protection.

“We have submitted a request for the payment of the second tranche of funds. The funds will be paid once we meet the conditions, which is standard practice. From pre-financing, 111 million euros has already been disbursed, and the first tranche of around 55 million euros is already available to us for Serbia’s Growth Plan,” Apostolovic said.

According to him, the Operational Team for EU accession has been working almost daily for the past three months – new laws are being adopted, certain regulations are being amended, and preparations for opening Cluster 2 are being finalized.

Apostolovic emphasized that Serbia acted quickly on the recommendations of the Venice Commission regarding the so-called Mrdic laws.

“As soon as we received the expert opinion of the Venice Commission, the Ministry of Justice formed a working group and invited all relevant institutions to participate. We have draft laws incorporating the recommendations, and public hearings are planned for May 6 and 7 in parliament,” Apostolovic stated.

He added that the draft laws will be sent to the Venice Commission on May 8, after which, if they receive a “green light,” they will proceed to adoption in parliament, which is expected by the end of May.

“We regularly inform representatives of the European Commission about all steps,” Apostolovic pointed out.

Speaking about electoral legislation and the recommendations of ODIHR, he said those recommendations are key. Drafts of four laws are ready and have received a “green light,” and public hearings in several cities begin today.

“After that, two laws remain – on financing electoral activities and on preventing corruption – for which we expect ODIHR’s opinion. Once we adopt them, we will fulfill all recommendations in the legislation,” Apostolovic emphasized.

He added that Cluster 2, which relates to the internal market, is closest to being technically ready for opening and believes everything can be completed by June. Intensive work is also ongoing on Cluster 5, which relates to agriculture, but it is not expected to be ready by June.

“We need to have more trust and establish a partnership relationship with the EU that will be strategic. Public support for EU membership has increased and currently stands between 45 and 47 percent, according to a European survey from June last year,” Apostolovic stated.

As he emphasized, European integration should be a point of connection, not division.

“We need more consensus on European integration – for it to be a point of unity, not discord,” Apostolovic concluded.

Serbia’s Minister for European Integration, Nemanja Starovic, also recently stated that the European Commission’s announcement clearly says there is no talk of freezing or blocking financial funds for Serbia, but rather that there is a continuous assessment of whether the criteria for their disbursement are being met, which has been the case since the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans was established.