A delegation of the Foreign Affairs and European Integrations Committees headed by the Chairmen of the two Committees, Prof. Dr Dragoljub Micunovic and Laszlo Varga, met today at the National Assembly House with a delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Parliament’s House of Representatives, headed by the Committee Chairman Stefano Stefani.

Stefano Stefani stressed that Italy would continue to support Serbia’s Eurointegration and hoped for Serbia’s speedy accession to the European Union which is, as he said, the wish of the other European countries as well.

The Italian parliamentarians were interested in Serbia’s next steps on the road to the European Union and its relations with other states of the former federation. They were particularly interested in what Serbia was doing to preserve its cultural heritage in Kosovo-Metohija.

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Dragoljub Micunovic reminded the officials that Italy has always been one of Serbia’s most important foreign trade partners, as well as of the good cultural cooperation and the Italian cultural influence in the region. He expressed expectation that the two countries would continue to develop friendly relations in all spheres.

Micunovic said that Serbia is constantly faced with vandal demolition of sacral monuments and destruction of Serbian cultural trace in Kosovo-Metohija which escalated in the events of March 2004. Although the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly passed a Resolution on the protection of the cultural heritage in Kosovo-Metohija, the international institutions had not reacted adequately to protect that part of the world cultural heritage, Micunovic said. Although the cultural heritage was under KFOR’s protection, Albanian separatists continued to destroy it in the past years.

The National Assembly delegation comprised deputies Gordana Comic, Marina Ragus, Zeljko Ivanji and Nikola Lazic.