The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic received the Secretary of State for the EU in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and member of Congress of the Kingdom of Spain, Diego López Garrido.

Considering the importance of the parliament in a democratic society, and especially since he is a member of Congress, Garrido expressed his great pleasure at being able to meet with the NARS Speaker and deputies on his first visit to the Republic of Serbia. “The Kingdom of Spain feels deep rapport with the Republic of Serbia which has an important place in Spanish politics”, added Garrido. The Spanish Secretary of State for the EU expressed hope that 2011 would be a historic year for Serbia primarily regarding EU candidacy status which, he believes, depends solely on the Serbian Government and the National Assembly’s ability to convey the results of the reforms taking place in Serbia to the European Commission. He also emphasised that reaching inner consensus regarding Serbia’s EU membership was deemed a very positive political moment. “In Spain, we are optimistic about the matter because we greatly appreciate Serbia’s efforts which have truly brought it closer to the EU”, stated Garrido, who also deemed the fact that two thirds of EU member countries as well as the European Parliament have ratified the SAA a confirmation of said efforts, but added that there are still tasks to be accomplished relating to better cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, judiciary reform, good-neighbourly relations, electoral legislation, protection of human and property rights and fight against corruption and organised crime.

Djukic-Dejanovic thanked Spain for its support of Serbia in all the situations Serbia has found and finds itself in, particularly for the support of Serbia’s Euro-integration and principled position of non-recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo. She informed Garrido that NARS’s key tasks from the European Commission report concerning Serbia’s accession to the European Union are being brought to a close. In that regard, she stressed that the NARS deputies have completed the important task of amending the NARS Rules of Procedure so as not to endanger the independence of the regulatory bodies, and that the proposed amendment to the Law on the Election of Deputies is still awaiting the opinion of the Venetian Commission which would completely abolish blank resignations and transfer the ownership of a deputy’s mandate onto the deputy and not his/her political party. She also thanked Spain for being the first to ratify the SAA with Serbia thus prompting the other EU member states to do the same.

Talking about the political situation in Serbia with the Spanish Secretary of State for the EU, the Speaker stressed that she believes in the Serbian Government’s new energy to reach all the goals and that early elections would be to the detriment of said goals.

The Serbian Parliament Speaker pointed out that it would be useful to sign a Social Security Agreement between the two countries as soon as possible.