Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivan Mrkic met in Belgrade with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. Secretary Hague and Minister Mrkic devoted most of their talks, which lasted 35 minutes, much longer than the protocol envisaged, to Serbia's European integration. The assessment of the British Foreign Secretary is highly optimistic as regards Serbia's expectations concerning the decision to be reached by the EU Council at the end of June.
In his talks with Mrkic, Hague stated that Serbia has proved that it was fully responsible and serious and that its leadership acted exactly as it had suggested it would act during the last few months of the intensive negotiations. This was recognized by Brussels and all EU Member States which, as Secretary Hague underlined, created an extremely favorable impression about Serbia and its efforts concerning its EU integration process. Ivan Mrkic explained to William Hague everything that Serbia has been undertaking in the implementation of its agreement with Pristina. Serbian Foreign Minister indicated that it was necessary to understand that the quality and substance of the implemented measures are more important than the speed of their implementation.

Minister Mrkic and Secretary Hague devoted part of their talks to the upcoming ministerial meeting in Ohrid. William Hague was very pleased to comment on the decision to hold the ministerial meeting in Macedonia tomorrow.