In a full hall of the Faculty of Political Science on Thursday, March 25, a round table entitled "Croatia and Serbia on their path to the EU" was held, organized by the Center for European Studies (CES) of the Faculty of Political Science, Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade and the Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade. The round table participants were former Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Croatia, Milan Simurdić, former Head of the Serbian government's EU Integration Office, Dr Tanja Miščević from the Faculty of Political Science, editor in chief of “The Challenges of European Integration” journal, Nikola Jovanović, MA and Dr Damir Grubiša, Nataša Beširević, MA and Hrvoje Špehar, MA, from the Faculty of Political Science.

Chief editor of the scientific journal “The challenges of European integration”, periodically printed by the Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade, Nikola Jovanović, MA, talked about releases and publications for students, professors, but also for the administrative and judicial public, as well as wider political elite in the region. The fact that the Official Gazette so far published 12 publications in its edition regarding the European Union and plans further translations of classic authors in the field of European Integration speaks about its propulsive publishing activity. Jovanović called on young authors and scientists from Croatia to publish in this journal which has an ambition to become the reference literature on the EU in the region.

Problems are in the past, the solution is a common EU future

"Our goal is not just membership, but membership with good preparation. The aim is to be, within a reasonable time, respected and successful EU member state, and not a member of the second order. Some countries are better prepared for the membership and benefit more from it, while others remain virtually on the edge, despite the formal status of a member country. These are the reasons why one should start early with the preparation, debate and reflection" said Nikola Jovanović in a lecture. Commenting on the cooperation of Croatia and Serbia, he noted that these markets are too small to be competitive with each other on the European market. The solution is a complementary approach to the EU market. "Despite the troublesome past, we have a common European perspective", said Jovanović.

“The problems are on the side of the past, and the solutions are on the side of the future”, said the former Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Croatia, Milan Simurdić, now Vice President of the European Movement in Serbia, speaking about the relationship between Croatia and Serbia. Accession to the EU provides an opportunity for cooperation in both countries, while competition is possible within the interpretations of the past. Commenting on the Kosovo issue, Simurdić noted that in due time he didn’t expect major changes of the official Serbian policy towards the status of the ethnic group which is still not recognized by all EU member countries.

Hrvoje Špehar from the Faculty of Political Science talked about the possibilities of scholarship programs and cooperation between the universities, after returning from Belgrade where he stayed as a scholar for six months in the collaboration and mobility in higher education programme called Basileus.

Kosovo and the Republika Srpska are of the most interest to the students

Nataša Beširević, CES coordinator, talked in her presentation about the time constraints in the last round of EU enlargement, emphasizing that the average negotiation process with the EU lasted 5 years, while the entire accession process, from the submission of applications to the accession lasted an average of about 9 years. By making connection between the enlargement process, democratization, conditioning policy and the accession process duration, Nataša Beširević applied the experience of the last extension to Croatia and Serbia.

Extremely large number of students who attended the round table were primarily interested in the issue of Kosovo as a challenge to the Serbian EU accession, the relationship of Serbia and the Republika Srpska and the possibility of a joint entry into the EU. Answering these questions, Professor Miščević stressed that Serbia's policy towards Kosovo was established by the Constitution of the RS, which says that Kosovo is an integrative part of Serbia. Such territorial tensions are not unusual even in the EU, hence the EU itself will not affect Serbia's recognition of independent Kosovo, Professor Miščević believes. Instead, one can expect individual bilateral pressures and conditionality of certain member countries. In relation to the Republika Srpska, Serbia, like Croatia, is the guarantor of the Dayton Agreement and, therefore, supports the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was highlighted by the Serbian President Boris Tadić himself. However, Serbia's position towards the Serbs in Bosnia will always be focused on developing special relationship, which is normal in a case of native country and its compatriots. "Bosnia is crucial for the safety of the entire region, with the significant cooperation of Croatia, Serbia and international community" said Professor Miščević.

Referring to the possibility of joint accession of all Western Balkan countries to the EU, Professor Miščević rejected that possibility, noting that there was no justification for hindering the accession procedure of one country in the benefit of the other. Unity is possible, but only regarding the issues of cooperation in trade relations. This highly attended round table, in addition to students and professors of the Faculty of Political Science, was also followed by representatives of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and Serbian journalists of “Nin” and “Politika”.