Today, at the NARS House, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic received the President of Finland, Tarja Kaarina Halonen.

Djukic-Dejanovic expressed her great pleasure at meeting the Finnish President particularly since it is the first visit of the Finnish head of state to Serbia. The Speaker thanked the Finnish President, Government and citizens for the strong support of the Euro-integration process in Serbia, even though we are aware, stressed the Speaker, that the bulk of the burden lies on Serbia and are doing all in our power to gain EU candidacy status by the end of the year, as well as a date for the commencement of the negotiations. “I am pleased to inform you that by adopting the new Rules of Procedure in August 2010 the National Assembly created the conditions for an even more efficient adoption of the laws from the European agenda. By the end of December 2010, we had passed 155 laws adjusting Serbian legislation to European standards”, said the Serbian Parliament Speaker.

“There are no short-cuts to the EU”, said Halonen, stressing that the road to full EU membership was very difficult but the lives of the Serbian citizens outside of the EU would be considerably more difficult. Regional cooperation could help the process considerably, as could contacts between delegations at various international forums. Djukic-Dejanovic added that the Serbian National Assembly enjoys excellent working relations with all the parliaments in the region. She also stressed that the NARS wishes to raise the level of cooperation with the Finnish Parliament as the experience of each and all EU members is invaluable for Serbia and urges it to fulfill the tasks on the road to the EU as efficiently as possible.

Speaking about the status of women, the NARS Speaker said that Serbia is striving to improve their position which will also ensure a more important influence on the decision-making process on all levels.