Greeting the guests, Parliamentary Friendship Group Head, MP Vlajko Senic said that the meeting was aimed at furthering political and economic relations between the two countries and raising them to the level maintained through most of the 130-year-long history of bilateral relations.

We have the potential to extend cooperation by increasing the American presence on the Serbian market primarily by attracting and promoting investment by American companies, said Senic.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic thanked the US for its support of Serbia’s accession to the European Union. She emphasised the need to improve inter-parliamentary cooperation via an exchange of parliamentary delegations.

US Ambassador to Serbia Mary Warlick congratulated Serbia on the recommendation to gain EU candidacy status which, she stressed, required great efforts. The Ambassador stressed that the US would continue to strongly support Serbia on its way to the European Union.

Ambassador Warlick said that, in the previous period, the US assisted Serbia in building a democratic society by financing various support programmes for institutions and projects via the international organisations of USAID and NDI. Their future activities will focus on promoting the strengthening of the National Assembly’s control and oversight role. She also stated that 1.6 billion USD had been invested into various types of economic cooperation in Serbia. She emphasised the importance of military cooperation between the two countries and pointed out the need to strengthen cooperation in the fight against organised crime.

Parliamentary Friendship Group members Prof. Dr Dragoljub Micunovic, Suzana Grubjesic, Nada Kolundzija, Vlatko Ratkovic, Zoran Ostojic, Radoslav Milovanovic, Aleksandar Vlahovic, Aleksandar Jugovic and Riza Halimi spoke of the two countries’ relations. They deemed that the relations between the two countries should be much more dynamic and that they have a higher potential for cooperation in, primarily, the economic as well as cultural and scientific sectors.

The Parliamentary Friendship Group members thanked the US for its support of Serbia’s Euro-integration which would contribute to the stability of the Western Balkan region. They thanked Ambassador Warlick for her personal contribution to the development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

In addition to the Parliamentary Friendship Group members, the meeting was attended by representatives of the US Embassy in Serbia and American Society in Serbia, National Assembly and Foreign Ministry dignitaries, as well as representatives of international and non-governmental organisations.