At the sitting held on 2 April, the Foreign Affairs Committee interviewed the newly appointed Ambassadors of the Republic of Serbia to the Republic of Argentina, the United States of America and the Kingdom of Morocco, before their departure for diplomatic duty.

The Committee Sitting was chaired by Prof. Dr Dragoljub Micunovic.

The newly appointed Ambassador to Argentina, Gordana Vidovic, pointed out that Serbia has good political relations with the country, reminding that Argentina did not recognise the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija. She deemed it necessary to improve economic cooperation between the two countries, which is on an exceptionally low level.

Serbia’s new Ambassador to the USA Vladimir Petrovic stressed that his priority will be mending the relations between Serbia and the USA. He stated that the relations between the two countries have taken a turn for the worse after the USA recognised the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija, and that they need to be improved. According to him, the new American administration of President Obama represents a chance to improve the relations, particularly to improve cooperation with the National Security Council which could be a counterbalance to the State Department. Also, the favourable cooperation with Congress and the Serbian Caucus within it should be continued.

Talking about the potential for economic cooperation, Ambassador Petrovic stressed that, due to the economic crisis, the level of USA investment into Serbia has decreased, but orientation to cooperation with small and medium enterprises is possible. Petrovic also pointed out the existence of a large Serbian diaspora in the USA with whom it is necessary to establish closer cooperation.

The Committee members deemed that the Serbian diaspora in the USA should be better organised and take a more active part in the political life of the USA thus contributing to the affirmation of Serbia’s foreign policy goals and improving the relations between the two countries. It was suggested that new areas of cooperation with the USA and channels for its implementation should be sought.

The Committee accepted invitations to send National Assembly delegations to: the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly session to be held in Strasbourg 27-30 April, the Conference of Parliamentary Speakers of the member states of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative in Athens 4 May, 32^nd plenary sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Nevski International Ecological Congress at Sankt Petersburg on 15 May.

The Committee members also accepted the initiatives to have the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security of the Senate of the Czech Republic, Jiri Dienstbier and a delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament visit to Serbia.

The committee accepted several reports on realised visits and meetings between the deputies and parliamentarians from other countries.