Chairman of the Board of Directors Vladimir Krulj said for Sky News: “BREXIT has not changed Serbia’s position on EU integration“

UK's decision to leave the EU has not changed Serbia's position on EU integration, said the chief economist of Serbia's EU negotiation team Vladimir Krulj, PhD in his appearance on British Sky News. 'Two thirds of Serbia's foreign trade is with the EU and almost 90% of all investments are from the EU. Unemployment has gone down by 13 pp in only two years, thanks to proactive measures of the Government, Prime Minister Vučić and investors from the EU'. Therefore, Serbia has no reason to change its position towards EU integration, said Vladimir Krulj, PhD who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Komercijalna banka.

Speaking about the effect of Brexit on Serbia's EU integration, Vladimir Krulj, PhD said that the UK is a powerful economy, while Serbia is an emerging one, an economy that is trying to meet all the important criteria in order to have sound public finance. The way to get there is to join the EU and implement all the EU rules and regulations that draw the country closer to fulfilment of economic targets the Government has set itself. 'That is exactly what the Prime Minister Vučić has been doing over the past two-three years - strong economic reform program, strong fiscal consolidation, negotiations with the IMF and the World Bank, great progress in the World Banks' Doing Business list. All these are important things that have a major positive effect on everyday life of the people in Serbia', said Krulj.

He said that even after Brexit, Serbia is focused on fulfilling the technical criteria for full EU membership and that there is no delay in this. Krulj expressed his belief that Serbia would meet the technical criteria for full membership by 2020, but that the final decision on Serbia's EU accession would be a political one.

Speaking about the upcoming runoff presidential election in France, Vladimir Krulj, PhD said that it should be viewed from a positive side. 'If you look at the French election, you will see that the French are looking for someone who will decrease unemployment. Seven out of ten French are pro-European. At the same time, they are thinking about how the institutions in Brussels will fulfil their expectations. Whoever wins, it is clear that we will have new, more transparent Europe that will be more suited to the needs of its citizens', said Vladimir Krulj, PhD in an interview for British Sky News.

Sky News: dr Vladimir Krulj - Video