PM Plenkovic: Serbia’s road to EU leads through Zagreb

“Serbia’s road to the EU leads through Zagreb and solutions to accumulated bilateral issues,” Plenkovic said in parliament, answering an MP’s question about open issues with Serbia, including war reparations.

Plenkovic said his cabinet was working to resolve open questions and added that they were discussed during visits by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Zagreb and Croatian officials to Belgrade.

The Prime Minister said he hoped that the Croatian minority in Serbia will enjoy a similar status to that of the Serbian minority in Croatia.

Reacting to Plenkovic’s statement, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said the EU would not allow unresolved bilateral problems to stand as an obstacle to membership and cited the unresolved border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia.

“The road to the EU does not have to go only through Croatia. It can go through Hungary, Romania, Greece. Croatia is part of the EU but the EU will certainly not allow unresolved bilateral problems to become obstacles for accession,” he said.