Praising the traditionally friendly relations between Serbian and Angola, the Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee Dubravka Filipovski said that they should be deepened and advanced through parliamentary, as well as cooperation in the spheres of economy, agriculture, culture, health, defence, science and technology, IT sector and digitalization. She opined that the visit of the Angolan delegation is an excellent opportunity to discuss educational cooperation, especially the study programmes for Angolan nationals in Serbia. She opined that the memorandum of parliamentary cooperation between the two countries would encourage the development of parliamentary cooperation, as well as cooperation between the national delegations to international organizations.

“We truly appreciate Angola’s not recognizing the independence of so-called Kosovo and voting against its INTERPOL and UNESCO bids. That shows that as a state you respect international law and our efforts to continue the talks between Belgrade and Pristina once Pristina’s import tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are revoked. Your principled stance and understanding are very important for Serbia at this moment,” Filipovski said.

The Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Diaspora of the Republic of Angola National Assembly of the Republic of Angola Josefina Perpetua Peres D. Pitra Diakite said that Angola appreciates the support it has been getting from Serbia since the time of its independence struggles. She opined that the overall relations should be strengthened with a special focus on economic cooperation considering that both Serbia and Angola are countries with ample potentials.

“We put international law first and base the cooperation on mutual interests. We believe that fostering strong and close relations between our countries at the bilateral and multilateral level is a matter of principle. We did not recognize the independence of so-called Kosovo and do not intend to do so and we consistently act in accordance with that in international organizations”, said Diakite.

She stressed that advancing parliamentary cooperation is vital for cooperation in general, the first stage of which will be the signing of the memorandum of cooperation.

The Serbian and Angolan delegations opined that there is room for cooperation in the UN and its organizations, especially in terms of the realization of sustainable development goals. The delegations also spoke about gender equality in the national parliaments, strengthening the position of women in political life, Serbia’s European integration process and regional cooperation.

On behalf of the Foreign Affairs Committee the meeting was also attended by Ljiljana Malusic, Dusica Stojkovic and Vera Jovanovic, and on behalf of the delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Angola by Vicente Pinto de Andrade and Maria Luisa Andrade, members of the National Monitoring Group for cooperation between the EU parliaments and the parliaments of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states.