Starovic: Realistic chances for Serbia to open Cluster 3 by the end of July, we will fulfill all obligations

Minister for European Integration Nemanja Starovic stated today that there are realistic prospects and chances for Serbia to open Cluster 3 by the end of July, thus unblocking the accession process in negotiations with the EU. He emphasized that Serbia wants to take advantage of the strong, positive momentum in the enlargement process.

“We have good chances and assurances from relevant interlocutors within the European Commission that, if we fulfill the package of obligations we accepted in November of last year, we will receive full support from the EC and European institutions to hold an intergovernmental conference by the end of July, at which we will open Cluster 3,” Starovic said on K1 television.

Speaking about the obligations Serbia has undertaken to open that cluster, Starovic said that the first item is the package of media laws, which has been intensively harmonized with the EC for six months. He added that representatives of civil society and professional media organizations participated in the dialogue on these laws.

Starovic emphasized that the text of all three media laws has been agreed upon, that the drafts have been adopted by the Government of Serbia, and that they will be presented to the Serbian Parliament next week.

“I believe we have made adequate progress in that area and that we will meet the set deadlines,” he stated.

He added that the second obligation is the adoption of the Law on the Unified Electoral Roll, noting that the draft law is fully aligned with ODIHR recommendations and is expected to be submitted to Parliament at the beginning of July.

“The third obligation is the selection of members of the REM Council. The application process is complete, 49 candidates applied, and now the parliamentary Committee on Culture and Information needs to conduct individual interviews with the candidates. A few more steps are needed, and the process should be concluded in early July with the selection of REM Council members. That way, all three obligations will be fully met and we will be ready to open Cluster 3,” Starovic said.

Assurances, but not guarantees

He explained that Serbia has received assurances, but not guarantees, regarding the opening of Cluster 3, stressing that the final decision lies with all 27 EU member states and must be based on consensus.

“We can fulfill our obligations, but no one can give us absolute guarantees that meeting those obligations will result in the opening of Cluster 3 by the end of July. What we can receive are assurances that we will have the support of EU institutions in Brussels, but everyone is aware that the consensus of all 27 member states is required,” the Minister for European Integration said.

He added that, in parallel with fulfilling technical obligations, Serbia is actively communicating with all member states. Representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for European Integration, and the Speaker of Parliament Ana Brnabic are all engaged in presenting Serbia’s progress to European officials.

As he noted, dialogue has been reestablished with Baltic countries, the Netherlands, and other partners, adding that Serbia is on the right track to build the consensus needed to open Cluster 3 by the end of July.

Positive recommendation

Starovic said that Serbia has been waiting for three and a half years to open this cluster, reminding that in December 2021, the EC gave a positive recommendation, a green light, to open Cluster 4 and Cluster 3 at that time.

He recalled that Cluster 4 was opened, but that it was said that Cluster 3 should wait until constitutional amendments were adopted, which was later accomplished.

“We implemented the constitutional changes in January 2022, and a referendum was held. However, this was not immediately recognized, because the war in Ukraine began in February 2022, changing the dynamics of international relations. Since that moment, we have had a positive recommendation, but the European Council, that is, the member states, have not granted final approval. That is the stage of the process we have been in all this time,” Starovic said.

Speaking about possible obstacles, Starovic pointed out the potential challenge of certain expectations from some member states that are not directly related to the technical obligations Serbia has undertaken. He said it's possible that one or more member states may claim that additional expectations have not been met, regarding alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.

“They might say they expected, for example, the introduction of a sanctions package against the Russian Federation, and that some new political obstacle might arise that has nothing to do with technical obligations. We are working to prevent that, communicating intensively with member states, but it is something that can never be completely ruled out,” Starovic warned, citing the example of North Macedonia.