Gojkovic and Zidan praised the ever improving relations between Serbia and Slovenia with their dynamic cooperation and intensive contacts and highlighted the importance of regular parliamentary meetings.

The two parliament speakers underlined the importance of the recent Memorandum of Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the National Assembly of Slovenia signed during Zidan’s visit to Serbia, which gave the parliamentary cooperation a new, institutionalized form and opened up new possibilities for cooperation within Serbia’s European integration process and at the level of working bodies and parliamentary friendship groups.

Gojkovic said that there is ample room to further cooperation between the committees in charge of foreign affairs and European integration, agriculture, culture, education, sport, the environment and tourism, adding that the Memorandum of Cooperation opens new opportunities for cooperation between the two parliaments’ delegations to international parliamentary organizations. Gojkovic invited a delegation of the Slovenian National Assembly to take part in the 141st IPU Assembly in Belgrade, in October.

Gojkovic accepted the Slovenian Parliament Speaker’s invitation to visit Slovenia and help promote parliamentary cooperation.

Gojkovic also met with the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nebojsa Radmanovic and emphasized how much Serbia supports the development of relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina as one of its key partners in the region, stressing that the political stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its economic growth are very important for Serbia.

The Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina said that cooperation with Serbia, as the guarantor of the Dayton Accords, is vital, adding that parliamentary cooperation takes pride of place in the overall relations between the two countries.

Gojkovic and Radmanovic opined that though the current parliamentary cooperation is very good and comprehensive, there is still room to advance it. Gojkovic and Radmanovic said that this intensification of relations will continue after the constitution of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina is completed, and the Serbian Assembly Speaker invited a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina to take part in the 141st IPU Assembly in Belgrade.

Gojkovic and Radmanovic also spoke about the reciprocal support for the two countries’ European integration process, a path they are committed to despite the challenges rocking the EU.

Speaking of the standstill in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Gojkovic said that Pristina’s imposition of customs taxes on goods from central Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina violates CEFTA and they must be revoked as an anti-civilizational measure.

Gojkovic also mentioned Pristina’s recent moves which have radicalized its relations with Belgrade, such as the adoption of the Platform for dialogue and the decision to establish the so-called Kosovo “armed forces”, reminding her colleague that Pristina has still not set up the Community of Serb Municipalities.