Beta PRESS - Novinska agencija

Dacic: U.S. Supports Serbia's Bid to Join EU

BELGRADE, May 16, 2013 (BETA) - Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic stated on May 16 that the U.S. supported Serbia's integration into the European Union and stressed that Serbia had secured political backing for the implementation of the Brussels agreement.

Dacic told the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation that he had received guarantees from U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden that his country would use its international influence in favor of the EU granting a date for the start of negotiations on Serbia's admission into the Union.

"I am particularly pleased that Biden said that he could not imagine Europe without Serbia, since we are important for the political and economic stability of the whole of Europe, and this is why it is important that Serbia become part of the EU," Dacic said. He added that Biden was satisfied with Serbia's progress in the solving of problems with Pristina.

The prime minister confirmed that he would travel to Brussels on May 21 to meet with Kosovo Premier Hashim Thaci and discuss the implementation of the agreement they reached in April. "I do not know what the topics will be, but the implementation of the agreement is certainly one of them," Dacic said.

The White House stated after the meeting that Biden had congratulated Dacic on reaching agreement in the dialogue about the normalization of Serbia's relations with Kosovo, with EU help, and highlighted the importance of progress in the discharge of obligations assumed during the dialog and toward implementing the agreement as a whole.

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