Serbia’s SAA became active on Sunday

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which Serbia signed with the EU five years ago, became active on Sunday as Belgrade made another step towards membership of the European club.

With this, Serbia has now fulfilled all the formal conditions required before it can open EU accession talks.

Tanja Miscevic, the candidate for the post of Serbia’s lead negotiator in EU membership talks and the former head of Serbian government’s European Integration Office, explained that because the trade part of the SAA has been in force since 2010, the focus will now be on political reforms.

“The political part of the agreement defines the principles of accession based on European values, preparing the country for potential future membership,” Miscevic said on Sunday.