Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic held a meeting with the European Union Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Policies, Oliver Varhelyi, where the focus of the discussions was the proposed resolution regarding Srebrenica.

Varhelyi stated that he does not agree with the collective punishment of a nation.

“I do not agree with collective punishment; it has never been part of our values, nor will it be. Stigmatizing the Serbian people is not a sustainable choice. It does not contribute to overcoming all the horrors of the wars in the Balkans. We have condemned crimes against humanity; those individuals must be held accountable for their crimes. There are judgments that need to be made; we have already seen where the concept of collective guilt leads. We must remember the victims in Srebrenica, but we must not attribute collective guilt to an entire nation,’ Varhelyi emphasized.

For his part, President Vucic reiterated that structural reforms are crucial for Serbia and that it will continue to prepare to get closer to the EU. Vucic added that he is confident that, if the foreign policy inconsistency with the EU is not an obstacle, Serbia will open a third group, many new chapters and that they will be close to opening all chapters by the end of the year.

“This would be a big step forward,” Vucic said.

Present at the meeting were the EU Ambassador to Serbia, Emanuele Ziofre, the Serbian Ambassador to the Mission in Brussels, Danijel Apostolovic, Minister for European Integration Tanja Miscevic, and Foreign Minister Marko Duric.

/k.s/