Chairperson Tepic informed Ambassador Eigner how the National Assembly, European Integration Committee and the civil sector participate in the EU-Serbia negotiation process, emphasising the cooperation with the National Convention on the EU.

Tepic opined that there is no need haggle about at the number of chapters Serbia is ready to open because each new chapter opened means progress. She added that it is important to both open and close chapters, hoping that this will be the case with chapters 25 and 26.

The European Integration Committee Chairperson said that the fact that not everyone in the Parliament, or even the Committee, shares the same opinion about European integration is a particular challenge. She thanked Austria for its unswerving and full support of Serbia’s European path, stressing that an intensification of parliamentary cooperation between the two countries would be invaluable for Serbia.

“As we await the European Commission’s progress report, the parliamentarians are pushing for an intensification of cooperation with colleagues from Malta and Estonia, the two countries next in line to assume presidency of the EU Council the coming year, so that they could get ready on time for the continuation of the integration process”, said Tepic.

Ambassador Eigner told Chairperson Tepic that Austria is dedicated to supporting Serbia’s European path, as well as to stability in the region in view of the fact that more than 400 Austrian companies are doing business in Serbia, employing more than 20,000 people.

The officials also discussed how to boost popular support for the integration process, the economic migrations of the populace, birth-rate in Serbia and the position of vulnerable social groups.