Deputy Speaker Marinkovic said that the relations between Serbia and Georgia are friendly and good, based on their mutual respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty. He said that Serbia is interested in furthering bilateral relations with Georgia adding that he was very happy about the recent intensification of interparliamentary cooperation. Marinkovic said that there is ample room to expand cooperation between the parliamentary working bodies in the domain of European integration, foreign affairs, economy and culture and also via the parliamentary friendship groups. Intensifying cooperation within multilateral organizations would also be mutually beneficial in view of the fact that both sides respect the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Speaking of Serbia’s foreign policy priorities, the National Assembly Deputy Speaker said that joining the EU is the country’s strategic goal, mentioning that Serbia has so far opened 12 EU negotiation chapters, two have been temporarily closed, and two new ones are expected to be opened. The objective is to harmonize the national legislation with the EU acquis by 2021, said Marinkovic adding that the National Assembly had strengthened its role in the European integration process by adopting the Resolution on the Role of the National Assembly and Principles in the Negotiations on the Accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union.

Chapter 35 – normalization of relations with Pristina, remains the biggest challenge of the integration process, said Deputy Speaker Marinkovic. He informed the guests about the course of the dialogue with Pristina stressing that Serbia is fully committed to dialogue and fulfilling the obligations it assumed by signing the Brussels Agreement, but Pristina is not fulfilling theirs and no Community of Serb Municipalities has been established, which is the key aspect of the Brussels Agreement for Serbia.

The Chairperson of the Georgian Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee Sofio Katsarava said that the Serbian National Assembly and its working bodies’ experiences concerning European integration and harmonization of national legislation with the EU acquis are very useful for the Georgian Parliament.

The officials also agreed that bilateral cooperation could be advanced in the fields of economy, culture, education, tourism and within the One Belt One Road initiative.