NEWS

At the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and the Minister of the Interior, Ivica Dačić, today began a two day visit to Slovenia.   The first visit to Slovenia by the Serbian Prime Minister and the Minster of the Interior Dačić offers an opportunity to strengthen the diverse cooperation between the two countries in different areas. The talks focused mainly on economic cooperation.  Prime Minister Janša pointed out that the Prime Ministers agreed that “trade in goods and services is the pillar of cooperation between the two countries” which is good despite the current crisis.  

Joint participation of the Slovenian and Serbian enterprises in third markets such as the Russian Federation and some other markets offers great potential for strengthening cooperation.  This is not limited only to energy projects but it includes large-scale infrastructure projects. “The Governments of both countries will do everything in their power to improve this environment and enable the most successful participation possible of the economies of both countries in foreign markets in the future,” said the Slovenian Prime Minister.  To this end, the Prime Ministers Janša and Dačić agreed to organise a joint meeting of both Governments in the coming year. 

Regarding the European Union enlargement process, Prime Minister Janša stressed that “the full membership of Serbia and other countries of the Western Balkans is the only formal strategy or perspective of the EU for this part of the continent.“ Slovenia will continue to push to accelerate the process, as this is in the interests of the whole of the European Union and a key element in stabilising the entire region. 

During today’s visit, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and the Minister of the Interior, Ivica Dačić, and the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia, Vinko Gorenak, signed an agreement between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Serbia on police cooperation which expands the existing contractual basis for mutual cooperation.  The Slovenian Prime Minister also emphasised that the talks between both delegations “strengthened the belief that this is very good cooperation between two friendly countries, on whose basis cooperation can be improved with new steps in order to increase the welfare of the population in both countries."  

The Serbian Prime Minister Dačić also highlighted the significance of strengthening and further developing economic cooperation between the two countries. He thanked Slovenia for political support for Serbia’s efforts to join the European Union. “There are no outstanding political issues between Slovenia and Serbia”, said Prime Minister Dačić, expressing a readiness for concrete solutions to any possible problems regarding the issue of succession or any problems faced by companies.