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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Boosting public administration capacity important for Serbia’s European path

Belgrade, 5 June 2024

Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Jelena Žarić Kovačević talked with Head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret about the implementation of the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans and the process of Serbia's European integration.

Žarić Kovačević informed Giaufret about the challenges in reforms and the efforts being made to solve them and said that the reform of public administration will be one of the Ministry's priorities, since the strengthening of the administrative capacity is one of the conditions for joining the EU.

The EU is Serbia's most important partner in many areas, the minister said, and at the same time expressed her gratitude to the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia for the financial, technical and expert support that the Union has been providing to institutions in Serbia for years.

Žarić Kovačević particularly underlined the importance of new sectoral budget support for public administration reform, worth €30 million, which represents a good incentive for positive changes in the reform process.

Giaufret emphasised that with the new growth plan, the Union sent a clear message that the Western Balkans belong to the EU, and added that to achieve this ambitious goal, it is necessary to implement the planned reforms more intensively, including the reform of public administration.

In this sense, the EU expects the Ministry to be a partner in strengthening institutions on the reform path to the EU, he said.