At the beginning of the meeting, Ambassador Kypreos congratulated Speaker Stefanovic on being elected to the post, wishing Serbia a bright and modern future as a member of the European Union. He stressed that his wishes are not formal and that the OSCE Mission would be at the National Assembly’s disposal at all times so as to raise the existing successful cooperation and joint projects to an even higher level. He added that, as before, the OSCE Mission would be the right hand of the Parliament which should be the epicenter of parliamentary life.

National Assembly Speaker MA Nebojsa Stefanovic agreed with the assessment, stressing that the parliament’s role is to protect democracy, protect the ethnic and political minorities and promote the opposition’s right to control the government. Stefanovic also said that he values the projects involving the OSCE Mission and hoped that the support would continue. He said that in the new mandate the Parliament and he personally would be open to all proposals and suggestions i.e. to cooperation with other parliaments whose experience of parliamentary life could improve the functioning of the National Assembly.

Ambassador Kypreos and Speaker Stefanovic agreed that the joint activities which gave significant results should be continued and that there was room to expand the existing cooperation.