Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Mrkic assessed today in Vienna that the decision by the European Council on opening accession talks with Serbia was recognition of a positive development, and an encouraging signal that Serbia had become a reliable partner.

Speaking before the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) he said that ever since the new Serbian Government was formed, it had made remarkable efforts towards establishing stability and good relations in the region.

In his words, Serbia is very pleased that as a result of these efforts, the European perspective of the region has been more secure today than ever before.

Referring to regional cooperation, Mrkic pointed out that the Serbian leadership attended the ceremony of Croatia's accession to the EU in Zagreb.
"We congratulate Croatia, believing it to be a great achievement in the Balkans and, at the same time, we support the aspirations of all countries of the region on their European integration path ", was his message.

The European Council decision to open membership talks with Serbia, as he put it, was a good signal for Serbia to continue its reform processes by giving them a new impetus.
"At the same time, this is recognition of a positive development in the past and a signal of encouragement that Serbia has become a reliable partner ", stated Mrkic adding that Belgrade had put a lot of effort into its dialogue with Pristina and that there were now agreements on whose implementation we were working.

In this context, he particularly singled out the support that the OSCE should provide in the run-up to the municipal elections in Kosovo.

Despite many unresolved issues existing in Kosovo and Metohija, a great deal had been achieved, said Mrkic.

He pointed out, among other things, that the issue of internally displace persons had not been resolved yet.

The dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina was a historic progress, noted Mrkic saying that Serbia was committed to addressing all issues by peaceful means.
"Serbia is committed to regional cooperation which will be a special priority during the two consecutive OSCE Chairmanships-in-office ", he remarked.

Swish Foreign Minister Didier Bürkhalter and his Serbian colleague Ivan Mrkic presented today, at the special OSCE Permanent Council meeting, their joint work plan in the next two years.

Switzerland and Serbia submitted, at the end of 2011, their joint bid for consecutive OSCE Chairmanships-in-office, which was formally accepted in February 2012 after no participating State had objected to it.

Switzerland will be Chairman-in-office in 2014 and Serbia in 2015.

The two countries developed a joint work plan on principles of their cooperation in a document entitled "Cooperation Principles ".

The consecutive Chairmanships-in-office of the two countries is a completely new concept for the OSCE, as well as the fact that the OSCE will be chaired by one of the countries which have emerged from the former Yugoslavia.

The Permanent Council is an OSCE executive body, comprising 57 countries and meeting every week to discuss current developments in the area of its responsibility and adopt appropriate decisions.