Pointing out that he is visiting Belgrade at a crucial moment, the publishing of the progress report on Serbia, Grasso said that he expected chapters 35 and 32 to be opened before the end of the year, adding that Italy is in favour of opening chapters 23 and 24 at the beginning of next year. He reminded the Speaker that the Italian Senate had passed a document last year urging to speed up the opening of negotiation chapters with Serbia.

Grasso said that Serbia, just like Italy, is in a crucial stage of reform and that he is well aware how many important tasks Serbia is about to tackle. The President of the Senate also said that he came to visit to once again affirm the friendship between the two countries both at the political, relating to its support of Serbia’s EU efforts, and at the economic level.

Gojkovic stressed that Italy is one of Serbia’s most important political and economic partners and thanked it for its support for a speedy opening of negotiation chapters.

The National Assembly Speaker pointed out that besides the opening of chapters 35 and 32, it would also be important to open chapters 23 and 24 at the beginning of next year. Gojkovic said that Serbia is committed to the implementation of the Brussels Agreement and added that there should be no room to allow for the impression that Pristina has the support of the European Union to give up on the implementation of the Brussels agreements.

Gojkovic and Grasso also talked about the migrant crisis, parliamentary and economic cooperation and the reforms both countries are conducting.

Click here to watch the video of the press conference of the National Assembly Speaker and the President of the Italian Senate.