Timeline of Serbia's EU Accession Unclear Due to Brexit

The President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the European Union undergoing such changes as Brexit make it difficult to predict when the process of Belgrade negotiating to become a member of the bloc will be completed.

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — The European Union undergoing such changes as Brexit make it difficult to predict when the process of Belgrade negotiating to become a member of the bloc will be completed, Marko Cadez, President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Sputnik on Thursday on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"It's very hard to predict from this perspective, because also the European Union is in some kind of changing process. One is our negotiation process which is basically default process of the country reforming structures and regulations and frameworks. And on the other side, there's parallel ongoing process of reorganization or restructuring of EU mechanisms, Brexit, all the other issues. It's very hard to say when [the accession will take place]," Cadez said on the sidelines of SPIEF.

He added that, meanwhile, that Serbia was "trying to push and work really hard on inter-regional economic integration" with neighboring countries, such as Slovenia and Croatia.

SPIEF, held in Russia's second largest city, between Thursday and Saturday, is a major global platform for communication between business representatives and discussion of crucial economic issues. Sputnik News Agency is the official media partner of the forum.