February 27 (SeeNews) - The European Commission wishes Serbia to normalise its relations with Kosovo as part of a legally binding agreement, in order to avoid problems that could give rise to bilateral conflicts after the country's EU accession, the president of the commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has said.
"It is not up to us to fix the exact terms and scope of this legally binding agreement; it is up to the Serbs and Pristina to set the scope of this agreement," Juncker said during his visit to Belgrade, according to a statement issued by the Commission on Monday.
Serbia is among the most advanced EU accession candidate countries, but the European Commission cannot admit into the bloc countries that have unsettled territorial disputes, as it does not wish to import bilateral conflicts, Juncker stressed.
The Serbian government said earlier this month that it notified the EC about its readiness to resume the talks for normalisation of relations with Kosovo. On January 16, following the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, a leading Kosovo Serb politician, Belgrade withdrew its delegation from a new round of normalisation talks.
Serbia does not recognise the independence of Kosovo, its former province predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians. Kosovo proclaimed independence from Serbia unilaterally in February 2008 and has so far been recognised by 108 of 193 UN members states.
Belgrade has undertaken a number of reforms, some of them painful, which deserve respect and admiration, but further reforms need to be made to strengthen the rule of law, justice and fundamental rights, Juncker noted.
Earlier this month, the Commission adopted a strategy for supporting the EU integration of the Western Balkans, which explains the steps that need to be taken by Montenegro and Serbia to complete the accession process with a 2025 perspective. These are the only two countries in the region with which accession talks are already underway.
"I know that there are many legends about 2025. On this point, I would like to be clear. It is not a promise, it is a description of a perspective, it is an indicative date, a strong encouragement, because those who are preparing to become members after having given so much effort also need encouragement," Juncker said.
The EU opened accession negotiations with Serbia in January 2014. The country has so far started talks on 10 out of the 35 chapters of EU law and has provisionally closed negotiations on two, namely Chapter 25 - Science & Research and Chapter 26 - Education & Culture.