Kos: There is no "lite" or partial membership in the EU, only full membership

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated that she is critical of the idea of ​​Serbia and Albania being allowed to become members of the European single market and the Schengen zone, emphasizing that there is no "lite" or partial membership, but only full membership in the European Union (EU) once all obligations are met.

Regarding the initiative that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama presented in a joint text for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Kos said that "the two politicians probably know that for membership in the common market and Schengen, you have to fulfill a lot in the area of ​​the rule of law."

"So, there is no discount," Kos said, answering questions after a lecture she gave at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland on April 30th.

She added that there is an ongoing debate in the EU about whether the existing enlargement methodology is appropriate for the current times and whether some specific arrangements and gradual integration are possible, but that her role as Commissioner for Enlargement is to prepare countries to become full members.

"So there is no 'lite' membership, no half-membership, there is only full membership, or nothing. And you can become a member if you fulfill everything," she emphasized.

When asked how the political crisis in Serbia is affecting the accession process, Kos said that Serbia is regressing in many areas, which is why its payments from the Growth Plan have been stopped.

"Serbia is very polarized today. It has been a candidate for membership in the European Union for more than ten years. Unfortunately, we have seen, we see that it is regressing, especially when it comes to the values ​​I spoke about earlier - the rule of law, democracy, freedom of speech and, especially, freedom of the media. Serbia has a future in the European Union, but the course must be reversed, or expressed more strongly in the actions of politicians," she stated.

Kos added that the problem is also geopolitical orientation.

"We have a rule that a country, before becoming an EU member, must be 100 percent aligned with the EU's foreign and security policy. This means that you cannot sit on two chairs. Serbia will have to decide at some point what is most important for development," she said.

Kos emphasized that the EU wants to help, but that Serbia will also have to take action.

"For now, we have suspended all payments from the Growth Plan, because the judiciary is regressing again and until they fix it, they will not be able to receive EU financial support," Kos concluded, answering questions from members of the diplomatic corps after a lecture at the University of Fribourg on the occasion of Europe Day.