Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said today that it is realistic to expect that Serbia will acquire EU candidate status this year.

In an interview with the daily Blic, Cvetkovic said that the government has achieved major EU integration goals.

He said that he is satisfied with the work of the judiciary and the police, the situation regarding foreign affairs and the performance of the government’s EU Integration Office but is concerned over the increase in poverty.

He said that the historic progress made in the EU integration process with the removal of visa restrictions, the unfreezing of the interim trade agreement with the EU and the submission of the application for EU candidacy is of strategic importance.

He said that the Serbian government received a positive assessment by the European Commission for the implementation of reforms, specifying that this work was carried out by the judiciary, police, the Foreign Ministry and the EU Integration Office.

The Prime Minister said that Serbia has done a good job of meeting the challenges posed by the global economic crises, adding that every government body did its part.

He said that Serbia has filed a countersuit at the International Court of Justice against Croatia for genocide, stressing that the government does not consider filing lawsuits a means of establishing good relations.

Speaking about the freezing of salary and pension increases, Cvetkovic said that this was unavoidable because of the overall financial situation resulting from the crisis, adding that this step was part of the arrangement with IMF.

He said that there is a possibility that there will be salary and pension increases, however, raising hopes that this will happen soon would not be good for either the government or the people.

Theoretically it is possible, given that an agreement with IMF is reached concerning the matter, said Cvetkovic, adding that a GDP growth rate higher than the planned 1.5% is required for that.

He said that the construction of the road to Horgos will be completed with the exception of the Beska Bridge and that the construction of the eastern and western links of Corridor 10 and the ring road around Belgrade will continue this year.

Source: SGW