Government of Serbia on January 26, it formed an operational team for the process of accession to the European Union, whose role should be to "coordinate the accelerated implementation of all obligations on Serbia's European path." The first meeting of this team started today at 10 am in the Government of Serbia.
The President of the National Assembly will participate in the meeting Ana Brnabic, Ministers of Finance Siniša Mali, Ministers of Internal Affairs Ivica Dacic, European Integrations Nemanja Starović and Justice Nenad Vujić, announced the Government of Serbia.
The operational team for Serbia's accession to the European Union is chaired by the head of the Mission of Serbia to the EU Danijel Apostolović.
There will also be Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Dragan Glamočić, Advisor to the President of Serbia for Foreign Policy Tatjana Jović, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Foreign Policy Nemanja Diković and Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petković.
It should be noted that Serbia had a negotiating team, but it was abolished in 2021. Then, by decision of the Government, the Coordinating Body for conducting negotiations with the EU was established.
What is the team's task?
The day after the formation of such a team was proposed by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, members of the Government adopted the amended and supplemented Decision on the establishment of the Coordination Body for the process of Serbia's accession to the European Union, which will consist of representatives of the highest state level.
Their task will be to provide strategic guidelines, political coordination and timely resolution of issues of particular importance for progress in the accession negotiations, the announcement reads.
The operational team, which represents the link between decision-making at the highest level and the operational conduct of negotiations, will contribute to the coordinated action of all competent institutions, and the Ministry of European Integration continues to perform professional, organizational and administrative coordination and ensure the coordinated work of all participants in the negotiation process, it is stated.
Vučić said that the operational team should have eight to ten members and that he should be in contact with them every day via a conference call. He proposed the head of the Mission of Serbia to the European Union, Danijela Apostolović, as the president of the team.
Who is Danijel Apostolović, the head of the dream team?
The head of the Serbian mission to the EU from June 21, 2024, Danijel Apostolović, received a new duty assigned to him by the head of state, Aleksandar Vučić. Apostolović will lead the operational team for coordinating the accelerated implementation of all obligations on Serbia's European path.
This body, better than the ministries, should accelerate Serbia, which has been stagnant or regressing for years, towards Brussels. Thus, Apostolović, by function in a lower position than the ministers, will supervise their work.
After a short career as a RTS journalist, from 2001 to 2006, Apostolović became an advisor for media and public relations in the Ministry of Finance during the ministry of Mirko Cvetković.
He followed Cvetković, as an adviser, even when he held the office of Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012. Towards the end of the former regime, he transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the EU sector, and soon, in September 2012, he went to the Serbian mission to the Union as first secretary.
Then he completely transferred to the Mission of Serbia to the EU and from September 2022 until September of the following year he is the deputy head of the mission, minister advisor. He was born in 1980 in Zenica. He speaks English and French. He completed basic and master's studies in journalism and communication studies at the Faculty of Political Sciences.
