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The German ambassador to Serbia, Thomas Schieb, said today that he has the impression that the image of the European Union is not as positive in Serbia as expected.
– The image of the EU here is not as positive as expected, but the EU is doing good things for Serbia. The EU financially supports Serbia, through numerous programs, investments, on the way to the EU. It has 27 EU countries, sometimes it is a complicated process, how can we arrange assistance to certain countries? It is a matter of principle, but the EU is doing a good job. I think there is scope to improve the image of the EU in Serbia – he said as a guest on TV Prva.
Shib adds that Germany strongly supports Serbia on its way to the EU.
– Here we are trying to explain what the EU stands for. Serbia should become a member of the Union. You can certainly benefit from what the EU has to offer. We must work to cooperate constructively.
The German ambassador said that before joining the Union, the Kosovo issue “must be resolved”, without specifying exactly what it means.
– The Kosovo issue must be resolved before Serbia becomes a member of the EU. The rule of law also decides the speed with which Serbia approaches the EU. Kosovo is not the only problem, there are many other technical issues. Serbia is in the middle of that process. But yes, the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo is necessary. There is a process of negotiations, Miroslav Lajcak is leading it on behalf of the EU, and the goal is for both parties to reach a complete agreement that will resolve all open issues – he says.
When asked to comment on whether the EU pulled out of the Belgrade negotiations with Pristina in previous months, Shib assessed that the US interfered more in the course of the dialogue than the EU pulled out of history.
– The EU did not withdraw, Lajcak entered into a dialogue and then the Americans came into the game and promised to normalize economic relations, which we support. This facilitates political dialogue. It may be too early to tell, but I believe that under the Biden administration, the political dialogue will intensify.
Speaking about the relationship between the EU and the administration of Joe Biden, the US president-elect, Shib says that Germany used to have a good relationship with Biden.
– Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulated the future president on his victory and we look forward to cooperating with him. Biden was a deputy for Barack Obama for eight years, we used to work very well with him. We hope to continue cooperating with him. However, it is too early to say something concrete, we will see, we are optimistic. Biden has yet to take office.
Germany has introduced the possibility that up to 25,000 people from the Western Balkans can work in Germany each year.
– We are interested in finding a workforce, but at the same time we want to give perspective to young people in Serbia and that is why we recommend German companies to create jobs here, so that the workforce stays here, while we encourage and finance those Projects. If people want to go to Germany to gain experience, that’s good, but it would be great to apply that experience later in Serbia – Šib concluded.
Video: Brnabić: We have excellent cooperation with companies from Germany
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