Serbia must join sanctions against Russia to join EU

  • 2017-01-10
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - Estonia expects Serbia, which is holding membership negotiations with the European Union, to respect EU values and join the sanctions against Russia, among other things, spokespeople for the Estonian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Estonia supports the enlargement of the European Union in accordance with the framework set out in the treaties and the progress of candidate states in accordance with strict and fair conditions. When it comes to candidate states, we attach importance to steady progress made in the area of rule of law, fundamental rights, democratic institutions, public administration and competitiveness of the economy," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sten Juur told BNS.

"It is also important to respect European Union values and align with the EU's common foreign and security policy, including the sanctions," Juur said.

In an interview with Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic published on Monday, the Serbian daily Danas indicated that the Baltic countries are preventing the opening of the foreign and security policy chapter in Serbia's EU accession negotiations.

An EU progress report on Serbia says that Serbia made regress last year in aligning with the union's common foreign and security policy. According to the report, the rate of Serbia's alignment with EU declarations and Council decisions, including those regarding sanctions, declined to 59 percent from 65 percent in the previous period.

The position of the Estonian government as regards the EU policy on enlargement is that a candidate country must align itself with the EU's common foreign and security policy and achieve 100 percent alignment by the moment of accession to the EU.