Ambassador Lutterotti also conveyed the congratulations of the President of the Austrian National Council Wolfgang Sobotka and Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg, and their thanks for the message of support after the terrorist attack on 2 November 2020.

National Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic said that strengthening parliamentary cooperation can lend a new quality to the high-level of friendly bilateral relations between Serbia and Austria. He informed the guest that the National Assembly had recently set up a Parliamentary Friendship Group with Austria ready to continue to work on strengthening cooperation, adding that he is prepared to personally contribute to further rapprochement of the two parliaments.

Ambassador Lutterotti said that the Austrian side too is all for the development of parliamentary cooperation, stressing that the President of the National Council Sobotka puts great stock in cooperation with the countries in the region, as evidenced by his two visits to Serbia in the previous period.

He conveyed the invitation of National Council President Sobotka to the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, scheduled to be held next year in Vienna.

The officials also discussed the current health situation and the measures employed by the governments of Serbia and Austria to combat the epidemic. Ambassador Lutterotti said that due to the dire epidemiological situation, today, Austria instated new restrictive measures to be in force for the next three weeks.

National Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic said he hoped the situation would soon stabilise, adding that the epidemic is having a big impact on all spheres of social life.

The officials agreed that the pandemic also has a big impact on international relations and it would be a good idea to intensify contacts as soon as the situation allows, to bolster cooperation. In that context, they agreed to organise visits of parliament speakers and parliamentary friendship groups after the stabilisation of the health situation.