Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babiš paid an official one-day visit to Serbia, during which he met with President of the Republic Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selakovic.

The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, accompanied by medical experts from his country who met with Serbian colleagues who are fighting against the corona virus, was formally welcomed at the Belgrade airport by Serbian Foreign Minister Selakovic, which included the Serbian Armed Forces Guard line-up and red carpet rollout.

President Vucic discussed with the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Babiš the situation related to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral relations, Serbia's European path, as well as the regional situation.

The President thanked Babiš for the visit and especially emphasized the support of our country to the Czech Republic in the fight against the corona virus.

Vucic also expressed an expectation that the EU, despite the challenges faced by all, would continue to actively implement the enlargement policy and that it would confirm that there was a strong commitment of the EU to continue and to deepen cooperation with our region.

Vucic and Babiš agreed that the further strengthening of bilateral relations, which were traditionally good and friendly, without open issues, as well as maintaining the intensity of meetings at the top and high political levels, should remain priority in further work.

"We highly value the Czech Republic's continued support for accelerating the process of European integration of the Republic of Serbia, both bilaterally and within V4, and we expect the Czech Republic to continue to advocate within the EU for our reform efforts to be adequately valorized", the Serbian President said and added that full membership of the EU was a strategic foreign policy goal of our country.

Vucic also emphasized Serbia's willingness to intensify its economic relations with the Czech Republic, which included a further increase in trade in goods.

The Serbian President stated that, in addition to the result achieved in foreign trade between Serbia and the Czech Republic, which reached nearly EUR 1.2 billion in 2020, we should continue with further support for enhancing economic cooperation and greater inflow of Czech investments into Serbia.

Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic stated after the meeting with her Czech counterpart Andrej Babiš that there were no areas of cooperation between Serbia and the Czech Republic that suffered last year, amid the pandemic break out, and that economic and trade cooperation in 2020 was almost the same as in 2019.

"That speaks of the strength of our economic cooperation", the Serbian Prime Minister said.

Furthermore, Brnabic said that the focus of the talks between the two delegations was health care, i.e., the fight against the corona virus, and that mass vaccination was the most important issue at the moment. Brnabic pointed out that the Czech Republic was one of the biggest promoters of the EU enlargement policy when it comes to the Western Balkans, and added that they already announced a platform for their 2022 Presidency, in which enlargement is one of the priorities.

The Serbian Prime Minister said that the Serbian and Czech expert delegations discussed the eGovernment system used to register for mass vaccination, as well as determining the priorities within the mass vaccination.

The Czech Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with the visit to Serbia and emphasized that our country demonstrated seriousness and responsibility in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, thus setting an example to many countries in Europe and the world.

At a joint press conference with Prime Minister Brnabic, Babiš said that it was extremely important that the Czech delegation managed to receive information and gain insight into what the vaccination system in Serbia was like.

"The most important topic of our meeting was vaccination. Serbia has vaccinated more than half a million people, it is the second in Europe and the seventh in the world in this regard. Every day, 30 to 40 thousand people are vaccinated here, and that number is expected to increase because revaccination is coming", he said.

The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic emphasized in particular the traditionally good relations between the two countries, which were characterized by historical ties and traditional friendship, Slavic closeness and affinity between the two peoples, as well as the solidarity they showed in crucial historical moments.

He also said that his country supported Serbia's membership in the EU, as well as it joining the Schengen Area.

After the meeting, Brnabic and Babiš visited the vaccination points at the Belgrade Fair, in hall three.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selakovic bid a formal farewell to the Czech Prime Minister at the Nikola Tesla airport, together with the Czech Ambassador to Serbia Tomáš Kuchta, and with state honours.

Belgrade,

10 February 2021