30 March 2021

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Nikola Selakovic met today with Head of diplomacy of the Czech Republic Tomáš Petříček.

Serbian and Czech Foreign Ministers, Nikola Selakovic and Tomáš Petříček, agreed today that the relations between the two countries were traditionally good and friendly and that today's visit of the Czech delegation to Belgrade demonstrated the dynamic and continuity of political dialogue existing at all levels.

Selakovic stated that the good and traditionally friendly relations would also be affirmed by the visit of President Aleksandar Vucic to Prague on 18-19 May, and thanked Petříček, the Czech Government and President Miloš Zeman for their strong support to Serbia in its European integration.

"The Czech Republic sincerely and strongly supports Serbia's European path, and we are convinced that an Intergovernmental Conference will be held during the Portuguese Presidency, in the nearest future", Selakovic said at a joint press conference.

He added that, in the meeting, he also discussed with Petříček the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and regional cooperation.

He pointed out that Serbia had been, was and would be ready to provide support to the Czech Republic in the further fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and everything that it causes.

"The fact that a business forum was held today shows that there is a readiness on both sides to help each other economically in overcoming the negative economic consequences of the pandemic, even after the Covid-19 pandemic", Selakovic said.

The Serbian Foreign Minister pointed out that the economic cooperation reached the level of annual exchange of almost EUR 1.2 billion, of which Serbian exports to the Czech Republic amounted to more than EUR 635 million, showing a tendency of growth, and not decline, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Minister, the meeting in Belgrade was all the more important owing to the fact that 20 businessmen arrived with the Czech Minister, who had meetings with colleagues from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, including representatives of companies that invested or planned to invest in our country.

"This is the first visit paid by the Czech delegation since the beginning of the pandemic, which has only added to the importance of the visit and to the strengthening of relations", Selakovic said.

He said that they also discussed cultural cooperation and that Serbia was ready to support the holding of an exhibition in Prague on Czech-Serbian historical relations, as well as that a request was conveyed for preserving a special Serbian language office at Charles University in Prague.

Minister Petříček said that he was pleased to be in Belgrade today with a delegation of entrepreneurs and thanked for the organization of the economic forum in the circumstances dictated by the coronavirus pandemic.

"We can build on the traditionally good relations today and talk about developing economic cooperation. The Czech Republic is interested in working with Serbia to develop cooperation in the fields of trade, economic investments, strategic sectors such as railways and smart cities, for example", Petříček said.

He pointed out that Czech companies were among the significant investors in the Serbian economy.

Petříček emphasized that the Czech Republic supported Serbia in its European integration and said that they believed that the enlargement process should go faster.

"During the Portuguese Presidency, we want to send new impulses when it comes to the enlargement process, but also to focus on the practical debate. The Czech Republic, like Serbia, had to prepare for EU accession and we are ready to share all our experiences with Serbia", Petříček said.

The Czech Foreign Minister said that they wished to strengthen cooperation in the field of tourism as well, and in that sense stated that Czech tourists did not discover Serbia enough so far, as well as that the Czech Republic wanted more Serbian tourists there.

As he said, talks on regional cooperation would follow during the day.

Petříček underlined that the Czech Republic traditionally supported the Western Balkan countries in terms of cooperation with the Visegrad Fund.

Source: Tanjug