Sweden, current holder of the rotating presidency of the European Union, hopes that a decision to do away with visa requirements for Serbian and citizens of other Balkan countries will be made in the coming months, Serbian news agency Beta quoted Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt as saying on September 8 2009.
 
Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic met Bildt during a visit to Sweden, during which Jeremic also held talks with Sweden’s European affairs minister Cecilia Malstrom and international development minister Gunilla Karlsson.
 
Jeremic said that Serbia would submit its formal application for European Union membership candidacy by the end of 2009.
 
After meeting Bildt, Jeremic said that the emphasis in their talks had been on accelerating the European integration process for Serbia and all the Balkan countries.
 
"The key to beginning that process is visa liberalisation, and a decision on this is due to be taken by the end of the year," he said.
 
"There was also talk of the conference between the Balkan countries and the EU in December in Brussels, when we’ll have a chance to discuss practical matters, such as the economy and the world economic crisis, and how to deal with it," Jeremic said.
 
Malstrom said that Sweden welcomed Serbia’s intention to apply for EU membership, but there were still obstacles on the way towards approving Serbia as a candidate state.
 
Some EU member states, saying that Serbia was not fully co-operating with the International Tribunal (ICTY) in the Hague, are blocking the Stabilisation and Association Agreement for Serbia, which is the first step towards the EU.
 
"My message to Mr Jeremic was that Serbia needs to show and convince both the (European) Commission and all member states that it is doing everything in its power to live up to the Tribunal’s requirements. It’s only when this is done that we can start handling a Serbian EU application. Thereafter, of hard work remains for Serbia to fulfil the Copenhagen Criteria," Malstrom said, writing in her blog on the website of the Swedish EU presidency.
 
She said that she and Jeremic had also touched on the issue of visa liberalisation.
 
For many years, citizens of Serbia and several other Balkan countries had been subjected to a visa system when travelling abroad, Malstrom said.
 
"Many young Serbs have never visited an EU member state, and this is why visa liberalisation is such a key issue. Some benchmarks still need to be fulfilled, but hopefully visa-free travel will be a reality as from early next year for Serbia, Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," she said.
 
"Visa liberalisation as well as a Serbian application for EU membership are steps on the way towards a Union in which all countries of war-struck former Yugoslavia are full members.
 
"With this in mind, these events may also be considered milestones in European history. This is a development that the Swedish Presidency will wholeheartedly support," Malstrom said.