Starovic: The European Commission clearly said there is no freezing of funds for Serbia

The Minister for European Integration of Serbia, Nemanja Starovic, stated that the statement of the European Commission clearly says there is no talk of any freezing or blocking of financial funds for Serbia, but rather that there is a continuous assessment of whether the criteria for disbursing those funds are met, which has been the case since the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans was established.

Speaking to RTS, Starovic explained that Serbia, like other beneficiaries of the Growth Plan, submits a request for the disbursement of funds every six months, based on the number of steps from the Reform Agenda implemented during that period.

The Commission then verifies the fulfillment of those steps, that is, it assesses the fulfillment of political criteria, which mostly concern the rule of law, the level of alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, and in Serbia’s case Chapter 35, that is, commitment to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, on the basis of which it approves the disbursement of funds, Starović said.

He noted that many people a year ago were saying that Serbia would never receive the pre-financing funds worth 111 million euros, but that this did happen, and that in June the first tranche worth 57 million euros was also paid out.

“Overall, despite everything you may hear in parts of the public from doomsayers, Serbia remains the champion among all Western Balkan partners in drawing financial funds from the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. When we add together the pre-financing funds and the first tranche from January, that amounts to a total of 167 million euros, which is more compared to Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has not been approved for disbursement of funds,” Starovic said.

He added that Serbia’s request for the disbursement of the second tranche is now on the agenda and currently under assessment.

“There are expectations for us to implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission regarding the set of judicial laws. The EU is knocking on an open door, because we have accepted this and are working intensively on it,” Starovic said.

Asked whether this means there are no tensions on the Belgrade – Brussels line, Starovic replied that there are always different expectations, sometimes certain gaps, but that there are very good working relations, cooperation, and daily intensive communication.

“Despite all the noise that arises, we manage to overcome it and move forward on the European path,” Minister Starovic said.