The December issue of magazine About the House published by the House of Representatives of the Australian Parliament featured an article titled Building Bridges, about the visit of the Serbian parliamentary delegation to Australia in mid-September 2009.

The leader of the Serbian parliamentary delegation visiting Australia spoke about the country’s desire to move forward into a new era of cooperation.

A decade after a conflict that ripped through the Balkans, one of the countries that emerged from the turmoil is working to take its place among the nations of Europe and build closer relations with countries such as Australia.

A recent visit to Australia by a parliamentary delegation from the Republic of Serbia, led by the Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, had as its key aims encouraging bilateral communications and closer bilateral relations with Australia.

"Bearing in mind the distance between the two countries, these relations should improve in the future since both parliaments are the holders of democracy and at the same time influence the functioning of all other institutions of the state," Prof. Dr Djukic-Dejanovic said.

Currently community ties are one of the major links between Australia and Serbia. More than 95,000 people in Australia identify themselves as having Serbian heritage.

Trade is modest, with around $US9 million worth of Australian merchandise exports to Serbia and $US7 million worth of imports from Serbia

During its visit, the Serbian delegation met with parliamentary counterparts, including Speaker Harry Jenkins, Senate President John Hogg and Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs Laurie Ferguson. In Sydney, the delegation visited SBS Broadcasting and Macquarie University and met with Serbian community members.

While seeking broader engagement with countries such as Australia, Serbia's key focus remains on its bid to join the European Union, with political, economic and diplomatic efforts all directed to that objective.

"Basically we have no other choice but to become a member of the EU because historically and geographically we are part of Europe," Dr Djukic-Dejanovic said.

"We believe in the free movement of goods, capital and people for the development of this great state of Europe. There is simply no other option and the citizens of the Republic of Serbia also perceive this as the only path.

"We believe that the safety and security of the people will be provided by EU membership and at the same time we believe that the resources that we can offer could be used in a more beneficial way as a member of the EU."

Serbia's strong manufacturing, energy and agricultural sectors have enabled it to recover from the destruction caused to its infrastructure during the conflict in the Balkans.

According to Dr Djukic-Dejanovic, this economic revival has been an important element in Serbia being able to pursue membership of the European Union.

The National Assembly has also played a central role in Serbia's push to join the EU. Harmonisation of legislation to comply with EU requirements and standards has been a significant challenge.

"We are adopting system laws and we are ratifying foreign agreements," Dr Djukic-Dejanovic said. "In the past year we have adopted 217 laws and 73 other acts. We have been working long hours. We have been working 24/7, on Saturdays and Sundays, and we have covered a parliamentary workload that in normal circumstances would take us three years to complete."

Prof. Dr Djukic-Dejanovic has been Speaker of Serbia's National Assembly since June 2008, the second woman to achieve that office. Prior to her parliamentary career, she was a professor of neuro-psychiatry and ethics.

She said Serbia faced many of the same problems as the rest of Europe, dealing with the global financial crisis and the spread of organised crime.

"As far as the challenges that Europe is facing, I have to say that these challenges are tasks and duties that Serbia also needs to face as well. Meeting the challenges that are set for Europe is also our objective," she said,

"This is all aimed at providing a better life for our citizens in order to become an adequate member of the European family.

"Serbia sees itself as part of a united Europe. At the same time we have to cherish good relations with traditionally friendly and distant countries such as the United States, Russia, China, Australia and die third world nations. We believe our economic potential can be realised by cooperation with all these countries."

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