Greeting their esteemed guest, the National Assembly Speaker and the heads of the parliamentary groups stated that the visit came at an important time for Serbia considering that the issue of its European Union candidate status is to be addressed in the next few days. The parliamentarians emphasised their appreciation of Italy’s support of Serbia’s progress to European integration, hoping that it would continue in future.

They pointed out that Italy shows understanding for Serbia’s position on Kosovo-Metohija and does not exert additional pressure on Serbia as regards the issue.

The heads of the parliamentary groups deemed that Italy is one of Serbia’s most important foreign trade partners and that there is more room to improve economic cooperation and investment into Serbia following the Fiat model.

The Speaker of the Italian Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies Fini stressed the traditional friendship of the Italian and Serbian people and good inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two countries. Historically and culturally, Serbia has greatly contributed to the establishment of the European identity which makes it a part of Europe. He highlighted the regional aspect of cooperation in the context of the global crisis, declaring Serbia the key factor in the Balkans. He also stressed the need for Brussels to take a more balanced approach to addressing the Kosovo-Metohija issue in order to reach a just and sustainable solution.

The following heads of parliamentary groups took part in the meeting: Velimir Ilic (New Serbia), Milos Aligrudic (Democratic Party of Serbia – Vojislav Kostunica), Momo Colakovic (PUPS), Balint Pasztor (Minorities), Branko Ruzic (SPS_US) and Nada Kolundzija (For European Serbia), as well as parliamentary group representatives Judita Popovic (LDP) and Suzana Grubjesic (URS)