The Committee members conducted an interview with the newly-appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the US, Djerdj Matkovic, before his deployment to diplomatic duty. Ambassador Matkovic said that his diplomatic mission to the US would be focusing on the continued dialogue with the US administration. The political relations between Serbia and the US are much better, Matkovic opined stressing that the US appreciates Serbia’s role in bolstering the stability of the region and its contribution to the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. The US has a positive attitude to the ongoing economic reform and endorses Serbia’s future EU membership. Matkovic opined that there is considerable potential for attracting direct foreign investment and improvement of overall bilateral relations, issues, he said, he would personally urge for. Ambassador Matkovic also presented his mission’s plans as regards parliamentary cooperation and cooperation with the Serbian diaspora in the US, as well as potentials for intensification of cooperation in the field of air traffic.

The newly-appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to UNESCO, Darko Tanaskovic, also outlined the priorities of his diplomatic mission. He highlighted the mission’s crucial prerequisites for success, opining that the Republic of Serbia needs to come up with a more inventive and deeper cooperation with UNESCO. Ambassador Tanaskovic recommends that Serbia establish cooperation with different countries on cross-border projects. The second priority is to launch the operation of the Republic of Serbia Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO as soon as possible.

The Committee members then proceeded to adopt the initiative to set up a Parliamentary Friendship Group with Vatican and Parliamentary Friendship Group with Chile, Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay.

The Committee also noted changes to the composition of the parliamentary friendship groups with Italy, US, Germany, Montenegro, Greece, Belarus, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cuba, France, Switzerland, Spain, Azerbaijan, Israel, Norway, Sweden, Brazil, Macedonia, Arab Countries of the Gulf, UAE, Australia, Canada, Portugal, Slovakia, India, Cyprus, Indonesia, Egypt, Finland, Iraq, Venezuela, Belgium, Ukraine, countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Aleksandra Djurovic.