A high U.S. official, Hoyt Brian Yee said in Belgrade that the EU candidate countries should clearly demonstrate their desire to become members, and not seesaw between two sides. He also added that the U.S. was Serbia’s partner on the country’s path towards the EU membership.
“The EU hopefuls should clearly demonstrate that they really want to become members. You cannot sit on two chairs, especially if those chairs are too far apart”, said Yee at the Serbian Economic Summit.
The Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs added that countries should pick one side regardless of how difficult that might be. He also said that Serbia had a lot friends and support in the U.S., especially in terms of the European integration.
“The important thing is to focus because so many things are going on in Serbia and the Balkans. It is important to focus on the desires of the citizens and the burning issues”, Yee went on to say.
When asked whether the U.S. administration would help in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Yee said that his country had been involved since the very beginning (of the dialogue), and that it was no secret that it has been participating in the process which is supervised by the EU. Speaking about the current situation in the Western Balkans, Yee said that the U.S. wanted for the Balkan countries to be stable so they did not pose a problem later on.
“There is still a risk of conflict wherever unresolved disputes exist. Still, the overall trend is maintaining peace and stability”, he went on to say. In conclusion, he said that the U.S. administration did not understand why the staff at the Russian Humanitarian Centre in Nis should be getting diplomatic status.
(N1, 23.10.2017)
http://rs.n1info.com/a337035/Vesti/Vesti/Brajan-Hojt-Ji-od-Srbiji-i-EU.html
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