PFG Head Dr Balint Pastor welcomed the Spanish Ambassador and the Director of the Cervantes Institute, pointing out that the size of the National Assembly’s 80-member Parliamentary Friendship Group is a good indicator of the MPs’ interest in continuing and intensifying both parliamentary and overall bilateral cooperation between Serbia and Spain.

Pasztor was especially grateful to the leadership of Spain for its principled support of Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, hoping that Spain will remain consistent on that issue. He went on to stress how highly he values Spain's continuous and constant support of Serbia’s European path, expressing hope that during Spain's presidency of the European Union in the second half of the year, Serbia would reap certain benefits, in terms of opening new clusters. He opined that there is room to improve cooperation in the fields of economy, culture and tourism.

Ambassador Raul Bartolome Molina underlined that Spain would continue to respect Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, in accordance with international law, adding that the Spanish leadership would not vote against Serbia's interests in international organisations. He expressed hope that Spain's future presidency of the European Union would prove significant for Serbia’s European integration process.

He emphasised that Spain and Serbia share a true and sincere friendship, adding that there is room for cooperation in the field of economy and culture.

The Director of the Cervantes Institute Josep Maria de Sagarra informed the PFG members that the Institute in Belgrade was founded in 2004 and next year would mark its 20th anniversary. He said that cooperation in the field of culture has great potential, especially through language learning and organisation of cultural events. He added that the public library has about 14,000 Spanish titles.

PFG members Stefan Jovanovic, Jelena Milivojevic, Goran Milic, MA Dejan Radenkovic, Zivota Starcevic, Natasa Knezevic Tasic, Jovan Palalic and Radmila Vasic also took part in the meeting with the Spanish Ambassador and the Director of the Cervantes Institute, and talked about the intensification of cooperation across the board as well as Serbia’s European integration. The MPs took the opportunity to thank Spain for its continuous support of Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as on the country’s European path. They concluded that there is room to improve tourism, especially since the opening of direct lines between Belgrade and Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Malaga.