Brussels sets priorities to aid Serbia's EU bid

(BELGRADE) - Serbia should focus on economic reforms, the implementation of rule of law and further negotiations with breakaway Kosovo as it works toward becoming a member of the European Union, an EU official said Monday.

"We are fully committed to help Serbia with the necessary reforms," EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele told reporters in Belgrade after meeting Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic.

Fuele said Brussels would assist Belgrade with "technical expertise for Serbia's alignment with the EU legislation, as well as with targeted financial support adjusted to Serbia's needs and in particular to the needs of Serbian citizens."

Serbia opened EU membership talks in January, after last year's historic deal on the normalisation of relations with Pristina.

"Serbia does not promise the impossible, but Fuele knows that we have done all that we have promised," Vucic said after talks with the EU official.

A week ago, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said in Belgrade that Brussels was "determined to help and support Serbia in its efforts to ensure a strong economic path for its citizens."

Vucic said his government's goal was to conclude EU accession talks by the end of his four-year mandate and bring the Balkan nation into the bloc in 2020.

Serbia -- the largest country to emerge from the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, with a population of 7.2 million people -- has to reform antiquated labour and other economic laws and cut down on bureaucracy.

More than 20 percent of the workforce is unemployed, and those with jobs struggle to survive on an average monthly salary of 350 euros ($480).