EU proposal: Serbia member until 2025

In the draft strategy for Serbia's EU accession, the European Commission predicts that this state could become a member of the EU by 2025 and must eventually complete all negotiating chapters by 2023 and reach agreement on normalisation with Pristina by the end of 2019, RTS sources have said.

The draft strategy for the accession of Serbia and other Balkan countries that in its final form will be adopted in February, mentions the conditions that are for Serbia and the EU, as well as the timetables that they must be published so that membership can be possible by 2025, say these sources, broadcast Time.net.

Under this project, all negotiating chapters would have to be opened and closed by 2023, in order for Serbia to be allowed access by 2025 through the process of ratification of the agreement in the European Parliament and the parliaments of member states.

The draft strategy also highlights the end of 2019 as the deadline for reaching the binding agreement for normalising relations between Belgrade and Pristina, which is one of the key conditions for EU membership.

The EU High Representative Federica Moghrini has already warned this event, warning several times “quality movement in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue for next year, by the end of the current European Commission's mandate, which expires in November 2019”.