02/03/2012 Monitoring
Strasbourg, 02.03.2012 – The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Davit Harutyunyan (Armenia, EGD) and Indrek Saar (Estonia, SOC), has welcomed the decision of the European Council to grant Serbia the status of candidate country. "This decision acknowledges the significant progress made by Serbia in adopting European legal standards, co-operating with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and pursuing the dialogue with Pristina by diplomatic and peaceful means,” they said.
“The Council of Europe and the European Union share common democratic values. We trust that this decision will encourage Serbia to pursue much-needed reforms and address thoroughly all outstanding key issues on its path to the EU, such as the reform of the judiciary, the fight against corruption, the media and the full implementation of minorities' rights, as stressed by the Parliamentary Assembly in its January 2012 Resolution.”
The co-rapporteurs continued: “We express our confidence that the new parliament and government, to be designated by the Serbian people in the spring of 2012, will continue to pursue Serbia's European integration process by consolidating the rule of law, democracy and human rights in the country, and thus contribute to the political stability and prosperity of the region."