In the meetings, Gojkovic said she expected that after the European Commission’s report confirms Serbia’s progress, especially as regards economic reform and its role in the region, the first negotiation chapters would be opened before the end of the year and thanked Slovenia for its support of Serbia’s European integration.

Gojkovic said that the opening of the negotiation chapters would send the message to the citizens of Serbia that they had chosen the correct path, adding that she expected the opening of chapters 35 and 32 to be followed by chapters 23 and 24 in the first months of next year.

The Slovenian officials said that the country had always supported Serbia’s European integration and would continue to do so, opining that the time is ripe to open the chapters.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor said that the bilateral relations between Serbia and Slovenia are excellent and the two countries are breaking new ground. Pahor also commended Serbia’s constructive role in the region, adding that Slovenia would endorse the further progress of the integration process.

Speaking to the Slovenian Parliament Speaker and the National Council President, Gojkovic stressed that meetings between parliament speakers, which have been quite frequent in the past two years, contribute to the development of relations between the countries.

The Slovenian Parliament Speaker and the National Council President agreed that these relations should be concretised through more intensive cooperation between the working bodies, especially in the areas of Euro-integration, defence and security, agriculture, environmental protection and cooperation of parliamentary delegations at the multilateral level, and in that context discussed a possible signing of a cooperation agreement.

The meetings also touched on promoting economic cooperation, relations in the region and the challenges posed by the migrant crisis.

The National Assembly Speaker also met with the heads of the parliamentary groups at the Slovenian Parliament and the Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Jankovic.

The delegation also comprised the Head of the Serbia-Slovenia Parliamentary Friendship Group Biljana Ilic Stosic who had a separate meeting with the Slovenian Parliament’s friendship group with Serbia.