Press releases, 29.1.2008

The EU offers Serbia an agreement on cooperation

Press release 29/2008
29 January, 2008

Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors represented Finland at the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on Monday. Photo: The Council of the European Union The European Union has invited Serbia to sign an interim political agreement on cooperation. The matter was agreed on Monday in Brussels at the General Affairs and External Relations Council, where Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors represented Finland.

The cooperation agreement is meant to promote political dialogue, free trade, visa liberalisation, and education-sector cooperation between the EU and Serbia. The intention is that the agreement will be signed on 7 February. The goal is to deepen relations, which may later lead to Serbia’s membership of the European Union. The purpose of the agreement is to provide concrete benefits for Serbian citizens, among others, by developing trade relations. There is also the wish to promote Serbians’ opportunities to study in the EU area.

The EU also expressed its commitment to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, or SAA, with Serbia as soon as the necessary preconditions are met. The ministers discussed the Serbian situation during the Council’s lunch. In connection with the General Affairs and External Relations Council, a so-called troika meeting was organised between the EU and Serbia.

The Council also granted approval for launching the crisis management operation in Chad and the Central African Republic. The operation is a key component as the EU and the international community continue efforts to solve the crisis in Darfur and to ensure stability in the region. The aim is, among others, to increase the safety of the civilian population, especially the safety of refugees, to ease the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region, and to support both the UN police mission and the work of UN-trained Chad police in the region.

Finland is taking part in the operation by providing a so-called force protection troop and the necessary support and maintenance elements as well as 2–4 staff officers. Two Finnish staff officers are already working at the operational headquarters for the EU operation, located in Paris.

Additional information: Project Assistant Mika Kaijamo, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 6204 or mobile tel. +358 40 758 2002; and Peggy Heikkinen, Special Adviser to the Minister of Migration and European Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, tel. +358 9 1604 3511