On 22 December 2009 Serbia submitted a formal application for membership of the EU. Serbian President Boris Tadic handed his country's application for EU membership to Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt in Stockholm.
"I welcome this historic step for Serbia. It reflects the Serbian government's strong determination and the broad popular support for EU membership. A Serbian membership is important not just for Serbia, but for the region as a whole. This is an important addition to the EU family", said Fredrik Reinfeldt at a press conference.
"This is an historic day for my country. It is the tenth year of democratic life, ten years after the end of the war, ten years after the end of our isolation. During these ten years, our main goal has been to bring Serbia into the EU. Now we will continue with the reform work in the hope of becoming a full EU member in a few years' time", said Boris Tadic.
Olli Rehn, the outgoing European Commissioner for EU enlargement, also attended the press conference. He noted that Serbia had come a long way over the past ten years: "I speak on the behalf of the entire European Commission when I say that the Commission is looking forward to working with Serbia. Serbia is a key country on the Western Balkans and we can now see that the whole region is moving closer to the EU. This is important from a peace-keeping point of view and to the future of Europe".
Source:lexology.com/l
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