Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Prof. Dr Zarko Obradovic said he was pleased by the Croatian Parliament Speaker’s visit which, he was sure, would significantly advance the two countries’ relations.

“It is logical and recommendable that Croatia and Serbia as two neighbouring countries advance cooperation through spheres of mutual benefit such as, for example, the sphere of education”, said Obradovic.

He said he believed the Foreign Affairs Committee could be a good channel for the expansion of cooperation between the parliaments and improvement of cooperation in international delegations.

Obradovic said that EU accession is Serbia’s strategic interest and the country is ready to fulfil all the obligations it meets in the Euro-integration process, stressing that recognition of the independence of Kosovo-Metohija cannot be acceptable under any circumstances. Obradovic believes that the relations between Belgrade and Pristina could be resolved through dialogue in the interest of Serbs living in Kosovo, with the full implementation of the Brussels Agreement.

European Integration Committee Chairman Nenad Canak informed Speaker Jandrokovic that this Committee is one of the ones chaired by an opposition MP which shows a high degree of agreement among all the political options as regards EU accession.

“Through the Committee’s work we are trying to strengthen the role of the parliament in the Euro-integration process because I believe Serbia can offer a lot both to the European Union and the neighbouring countries”, said Canak. He said he hoped the Croatian Parliament Speaker’s visit would not only help strengthen cooperation but also encourage an exchange of experiences of the EU accession process. Speaking of the Belgrade-Pristina relations Canak stressed that dialogue is the only acceptable was to resolve the existing problems.

The Croatian Parliament Speaker said Croatia was fully ready to help Serbia’s EU accession efforts with its experiences, adding that these experiences should be exchanged through the parliaments and their committees which will inevitably lead to a significant development of interparliamentary cooperation.

“Parliamentary cooperation is very important. It is through the representatives of the people that we should build relations and create policies to best address the outstanding issues”, said Jandrokovic stressing that Croatia supports the policy of EU enlargement and fully supports Serbia in the process.

Jandrokovic said that the meeting of the Serbian and Croatian presidents had contributed to the development and improvement of cooperation at all the levels of government, as well as economy.

Prof. Dr Milorad Pupovac, representative of the Serbian national minority in the Croatian Parliament, spoke about the importance of the status and rights of national minorities in both Croatia and Serbia. He told the Serbian delegation that an answer to the relations between Belgrade and Pristina should be sought through dialogue, in the best interest of the non-Albanian populace of Kosovo, but not to waste time because each day that goes by is just time irrecoverably and irretrievably lost.