Solana rules out new conditions on Serbia’s EU bid

BELGRADE, Serbia

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Belgrade on Monday (July 13th) and insisted there will be no new conditions on Serbia’s path towards the EU. Sceptics have long believed that at some point, Serbia will be forced to acknowledge Kosovo’s independence to become an EU member.

Following meetings with Serbian leaders, Solana stressed that deepening EU ties with Serbia “is a fundamental objective”. He also said the EU will formally announce good news in regards to scrapping visas for Serbs very soon.

In other news, Romania announced on Monday that the EU is restoring 171m euros in agriculture subsidies frozen last year. The funds, part of the EU’s SAPARD programme, were blocked amid evidence of management and distribution irregularities.