Serbian state officials and members of ruling coalition parties on Monday welcomed the decision of European Union foreign ministers earlier today to greenlight the ratification of the Stabilisation And Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia, while the opposition's reactions were divided.
According to Belgrade's media, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic underlined the importance of the ratification beginning as soon as possible as the SAA had to be approved by the parliaments of the EU's 27 members as well as by the European Parliament, which he said could last a year or two.
Serbia is maintaining the pace of the European integration process, Cvetkovic said, voicing confidence that Serbia would be granted membership candidate status next year.
The beginning of the SAA's ratification reaffirms what has been done so far and paves the way to the next steps for which Serbia will have to invest further efforts, with the EU's consent, said Milica Delevic, head of the government's office for European integration.
Parliament Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic said the decision encouraged parliament to work further on its legislative, overseeing and representative function so that Serbia could join the EU as soon as possible.
Members of ruling coalition parties said the decision was the result of Serbia's reforms and that it made Serbia interesting to foreign investors.
The leaders and members of some opposition parties said the decision was symbolic and essentially meant nothing as well as that it was a small step unless Serbia and its government proved worthy of the moment.
