Djukic Dejanovic expressed her deepest sympathies to the government and people of Japan for the victims and material damages caused by the earthquake and tsunami in March, as well as an expectation that Japan would quickly recover from the tragic aftermath of the earthquake.

The relations between Serbia and Japan were deemed excellent. In that context, it was stressed that a visit by the President of the Republic of Serbia Boris Tadic to Japan would greatly contribute to furthering bilateral relations. Djukic Dejanovic said she expected that members of the Japanese imperial family would visit Serbia in 2012 which would be an excellent opportunity to mark the 130^th anniversary of the first diplomatic correspondence between Serbia and Japan.

The National Assembly Speaker stressed that Serbia was investing maximum efforts into meeting the requisites for EU accession and expected the EU Council of Ministers to decide to grant Serbia the status of candidate on 9 December. She stated that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina should be continued. Regarding PACE rapporteur Dick Marty’s report, she said that Serbia believed that the UN i.e. SC should set up a special mechanism to investigate the allegations made in the report. She expressed an expectation that Japan, as an important UN member, would help the cause.

The economic cooperation between Serbia and Japan was brought into special focus. Serbia is very interested to further deepen overall cooperation with Japan since Japan is a very important partner in Asia. The favourable cooperation between the parliaments was deemed to be strongly conducive to improving all aspects of bilateral cooperation both in the political and economic sphere. It was proposed to launch a process of reciprocal visits between relevant committees and friendship groups next year. Djukic Dejanovic invited her host, Takahiro Yokomichi, Speaker of the Japanese Parliament’s Lower House, to visit Serbia.

Japanese Parliament’s Lower House Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi thanked the Serbian government and people for their help and sincere sympathy for Japan and its citizens after the catastrophe of 11 March. He agreed that the two countries’ parliamentary cooperation should be strengthened as that could contribute to the improvement of overall bilateral cooperation. Takahiro Yokomichi said that a delegation of the Japanese Parliament would visit Serbia next year.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic Dejanovic also met with the Speaker of the Japanese Parliament’s Upper House Kenji Hirata. He said that Serbia’s assistance was welcomed not only by the citizens from the affected regions, but the entire Japanese people. Hirata emphasised Japan’s deep respect for Serbia as a country that has overcome its past crises and plays an important role in the development of the region.