Deputy Radojko Obradovic today met with a delegation of the German Bundestag, headed by Axel Schaefer, Bundestag member from the Social Democratic Party.

The talks focused on Serbia’s current political situation following January’s parliamentary elections. Mr Obradovic stressed his conviction that a government for Serbia would be formed within the deadline set by the Constitution. He said that forming coalition governments – especially in transition countries – was never easy, but took time, and said he was certain that a new government would be formed.

Both MPs agreed that respecting the people’s will voiced in the elections was very important for the formation of a government, and concluded that the Serbian public was still expecting fundamental improvements in the fields of living standards, unemployment and balanced regional growth – in line with expectations of other transition countries.

Mr Obradovic informed his German counterparts of the progress of Serbia’s reforms over the past several years, and underlined that priorities for the coming period would be balanced regional growth and direct investment into various regions – a task covered by a National Strategy adopted by the Serbian Government – while a draft law on balanced regional development was also in preparation, and, when adopted, would establish mechanisms to reduce regional differences. With this in mind, the state has already started reforms in the fields of infrastructure, education systems, the public sector and government administration, and the banking system; the laws adopted in the past should yield results in the future. As for the future status of Kosovo and Metohia, Mr Obradovic reiterated the position that Kosovo and Metohia was an integral part of Serbia and that, if international law is adhered to, it would remain so.