The Head of the PFG with Germany said that today, the terrorist attacks in Brussels cast a shadow on all important issues.

“This is a big challenge for Europe which will, I hope, be united in its response to terrorism”, stressed Markovic.

The officials agreed that the bilateral relations between Serbia and Germany are at a high level, which is evidenced in the German dignitaries’ numerous visits to Serbia, especially Chancellor Merkel’s, which sent a positive signal to Serbia, added the Head of the PFG with Germany. She opined though that parliamentary cooperation remains underdeveloped, despite last year’s exchange of parliamentary delegations. She hopes that the cooperation between the two parliaments would be intensified, especially in light of Serbia’s negotiations with the EU.

The Chairman of the German Bundestag’s Committee on the Affairs of the European Union Gunther Krichbaum agreed with his Serbian colleague that parliamentary cooperation should be improved and commended the cooperation between the parliamentary friendship groups. He also urged setting up a number of mixed commissions with Serbia at the level of German provinces, modelled after the existing one with the province of Baden-Württemberg.

The officials agreed that the economic cooperation with Germany has a positive connotation in Serbia since 70% of Serbian export goes into EU countries, a significant part of it to German provinces. They also opined that there is plenty of potential to improve economic cooperation, intensify business contacts and civil society contacts, as well as cooperation concerning the introduction of dual education into Serbian high-schools following Germany’s example.