The officials agreed that the traditionally good relations between Serbia and Armenia should be improved through the promotion of parliamentary diplomacy, liberalisation of the visa regime, opening of embassies in Belgrade and Yerevan, improvement of cooperation in the spheres of education and agriculture, and the establishment of direct flights, which would all lead to an increase in the foreign trade between the two countries.

The Head of the PFG with Armenia Aleksandar Cotric briefed the Armenian parliamentary delegation on the Serbian side’s previous contacts with Armenian colleagues and highlighted the excellent cooperation of the Serbian and Armenian delegation in the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy. He thanked the Armenian colleagues for the consistency as regards the non-recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, voting against Kosovo’s UNESCO bid, and Armenia’s financial assistance after the 2014 floods in Serbia.

Speaking about the cooperation between the parliamentary delegations in international organisations, the Head of the PFG with Armenia reminded the guests that Serbia respects the stance of the OSCE Minsk Group and advocates a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. On the occasion, Cotric said he hoped that Serbia and Armenia would soon sign a free trade agreement, defence cooperation agreement and investment stimulation and protection agreement.

The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Hermine Naghdalyan said that Armenia is eagerly awaiting the imminent visit of the Serbian National Assembly Speaker, opining that it would give a new impulse to the interparliamentary cooperation between Serbia and Armenia. She would also like to see an improvement in the cooperation between the two parliaments’ friendship groups and urged the Serbian colleagues to intensify cooperation between the parliamentary delegations in international organisations.

Milovan Drecun, member of the PFG with Armenia, commended the cooperation between the Serbian and Armenian delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, and, on the behalf of the Committee on Kosovo-Metohija, again thanked Armenia for its support of Serbia’s territorial integrity in Kosovo. Miodrag Nikolic, member of the PFG with Armenia, briefed the guests on the plans to improve Serbian economy, with a special focus on agriculture, presented the previous experience with Armenian entrepreneurs, and urged for an improvement of economic cooperation and trade between the two countries.