The Head of the Parliamentary Friendship Group, Zoran Radovanovic, pointed out that this was the third biggest parliamentary friendship group at the National Assembly, comprising MPs from almost all the political parties represented at the parliament. Speaking of the recent celebration of the 130^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the US and Serbia, Radovanovic stressed that there is room for political dialogue and that the parliamentary cooperation between Serbia and the US is continually improving. He thanked Ambassador Kirby for the US Government’s past investments, amounting to almost a billion USD, into the Serbian economy, adding how important it was that the trend continues in future. Radovanovic also thanked Ambassador Kirby for the US support to Serbia’s fight against crime, corruption and drug trafficking.

Ambassador Kirby said that Serbia and the US share long-standing diplomatic relations, stressing that he would personally do his best to raise the relations back to their previous level. He underlined that both cooperation with the National Assembly and each and every political part are equally important, drawing attention to the importance of the US Government’s Open World programme, which the National Assembly MPs are taking part in, implemented with the aim to boost the MPs’ personal capacities and build strong government institutions. Speaking of Serbia’s economic development potentials, Ambassador Kirby stressed that resuscitating the economy and raising the citizens’ standard, as well as opening up new jobs are crucial, and to that end stressed the role the MPs should play in establishing more direct and open communication with the citizens.

The Parliamentary Friendship Group members who took part in the meeting spoke to Ambassador Kirby about the potential for improving the military cooperation between Serbia and the US, as well as cultural and educational cooperation, stressing that exchanges of students and university professors would be essential for the improvement of study programmes in Serbia following the model of renowned American universities.

The Parliamentary Friendship Group members also emphasised how important the US is for the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, to which Ambassador Kirby opined that there is room to find a mutually beneficial solution, hoping that it would be found soon.