1. Political dialogue between the Parties shall be further developed within the context of this Agreement. It shall accompany and consolidate the rapprochement between the European Union and Serbia and contribute to the establishment of close links of solidarity and new forms of cooperation between the Parties.
2. The political dialogue is intended to promote in particular:
(a)
full integration of Serbia into the community of democratic nations and gradual rapprochement with the European Union;
(b)
an increasing convergence of positions of the Parties on international issues, including CFSP issues, also through the exchange of information as appropriate, and, in particular, on those issues likely to have substantial effects on the Parties;
(c)
regional cooperation and the development of good neighbourly relations;
(d)
common views on security and stability in Europe, including cooperation in the areas covered by the CFSP of the European Union.
1. Political dialogue shall take place within the Stabilisation and Association Council, which shall have the general responsibility for any matter which the Parties might wish to put to it.
2. At the request of the Parties, political dialogue may also take place in the following forms:
(a)
meetings, where necessary, of senior officials representing Serbia, on the one hand, and the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Secretary-General/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Commission of the European Communities (hereinafter referred to as ‘European Commission’), on the other;
(b)
taking full advantage of all diplomatic channels between the Parties, including appropriate contacts in third countries and within the United Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and other international fora;
(c)
any other means which would make a useful contribution to consolidating, developing and stepping up this dialogue, including those identified in the Thessaloniki agenda, adopted in the Conclusions of the European Council in Thessaloniki on 19 and 20 June 2003.
A political dialogue at parliamentary level shall take place within the framework of the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee established under Article 125.
Political dialogue may take place within a multilateral framework, and as a regional dialogue including other countries of the region, including in the framework of the EU-Western Balkan forum.
