Mr. Droutsas: It is a pleasure to welcome Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Djelic to Athens. As always, we had a very constructive meeting and a very good discussion. Greek-Serbian relations are excellent. The two countries also maintain longstanding historical relations and have close cooperation and common interests in the region. Today we focused on Serbia’s aspirations and prospects with regard to EU accession. You all know that Greece has set a strategic goal and wants to see all of the countries of the Balkans join the EU, and Serbia’s candidacy for EU membership is very important to us. As such, I had the opportunity to reaffirm Greece’s full support for the efforts Serbia is making to become a member of the EU, and we would like to see Serbia become a member state as soon as possible.
Mr. Djelic: Thank you. On behalf of the Republic of Serbia, I would like to say that my visit to Athens has also given me the chance to meet with someone very dear to me, and we would like to transform this true friendship into a number of joint plans. As such, we have agreed on technical assistance from Greece for Serbia’s negotiating team for EU membership. We also assured our Greek friends that Serbia will make every effort to implement the action plan and get candidate-country status next December; when the Council convenes at the end of the year, we hope to be able to have an affirmative vote from Greece and the other countries, so that Serbia can gain candidate-country status and set a date for the opening of accession negotiations.
We also looked at Agenda 2014 for the accession of the Western Balkans to the EU – an initiative from Greece and Prime Minister Papandreou. It is a very positive development in this time of crisis that there is increased interest in enlargement, and I am sure that we will be able to work together in this area in the coming months.
We also welcome the investments of Greek enterprises. Over 250 Greek enterprises are active in Serbia, with investments exceeding €2 billion, which puts Greece among the three main investors in our country. That being said, the volume of our bilateral trade could be greater. Our commercial transactions stand at some €400 million, while the volume of Greece’s trade with Bulgaria – which is about the same size as Serbia – is ten times that. So we see lots of room for growth of Greek exports to Serbia and Serbian exports to Greece, which will further consolidate the longstanding friendly relations maintained by our countries.
May 2, 2011