Schulz feliciteert Nikolic met verkiezingswinst en hoopt op vooruitgang van EU koers (en)

Following the election of Tomislav Nikolić as President of the Republic of Serbia, European Parliament President Martin Schulz i made the following statement:

"I congratulate Mr Nikolić on his election as Serbia's new president. I am particularly glad that both parliamentary and presidential elections on 6 May and 20 May were fair and peaceful.

Those elections came at a crucial time, both for Serbia and the European Union. Growing unemployment and poverty is undermining faith in the European project, giving rise to egoism and nationalism across the continent.

In these challenging times, it is especially important, both for Serbia and the EU, to keep European integration alive. I sincerely hope that under the presidency of Mr Nikolić, Serbia will continue on its path towards EU membership. This was a clear wish of Serbian voters.

Serbia can be proud for having achieved EU candidate status. I would like to thank outgoing President Boris Tadic for having done so much in Serbia for European integration and regional reconciliation.

I would now like to see accession talks opened as soon as possible. I hope this will be possible once Serbia makes more progress on its reform path while demonstrating a constructive approach towards regional reconciliation and cooperation.

It is important to continue the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, which has already brought some concrete results that benefit the citizens.

I look forward to cooperating with the new Serbian parliament and government once they are formed and I would like to reiterate the European Parliament's continued strong support for the European future of the Western Balkans.