The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Maja Gojkovic met today with the Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin and the two heads of parliament agreed that the relationship between Serbia and Russia is an example of true friendship, mutual respect, trust and cooperation.
Gojkovic said that the historically good relations between the two states are continuing to develop intensively at the political and economic level, with no outstanding issues, with each new meeting propelling them further, which makes the coming visit of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin extremely important for Serbia.
Gojkovic thanked the Russian Federation for its continued principled support and non-recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija, as well as its active and unwavering support in international organizations such as UNESCO and INTERPOL, pointing out the importance of thwarting so-called “Kosovo’s” attempt to join INTERPOL at the coming session of the INTERPOL General Assembly.
Gojkovic reaffirmed that Serbia would not impose any sanctions against Russian, political or economic, stressing that the MPs represent the Serbian people whose feelings about Russia are clear, as evidenced by the ever growing Parliamentary Friendship Group, currently boasting 134 members.
Volodin said that the two countries share the same stance on all matters of importance and that he sees no issues where the two countries would have different opinions, thanking Serbia for not joining the sanctions against the Russian Federation and for speaking against them.
Volodin was especially grateful for Serbia’s stance in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stressing that violating the right to equality of national delegations and taking away the right to vote is unacceptable because it robs the MPs of the right to make their opinion heard which violates the basic tenets of parliamentarism.
Gojkovic and Volodin agreed to advance the cooperation between parliamentary delegations in international parliamentary organizations, highlighting the excellent cooperation within the IPU, OSCE PA and others. Gojkovic thanked Russia for its support at the Inter-Parliamentary Union session in Geneva when Serbia’s candidacy to host the 2019 autumns session was accepted, stating that she expected the participation of a highest-level Russian delegation.
Volodin said that today’s meeting is also an opportunity to remember the 74th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from the fascist occupiers when victory was won together, shoulder to shoulder, by Russian soldiers and Yugoslav Partisans, a relationship which still connects the two countries to this day and provides a good foundation for further advancement.
Volodin thanked Serbia for keeping the memory of these events and treating the cemetery where the Soviet soldiers were buried with care and respect, stressing how important it is to keep the memory of our shred history alive, as well as look toward the future.
Gojkovic and Volodin praised the development of cooperation in the spheres of economy, education and culture. Volodin opined that trade is very dynamic, as evidenced by the fact that the exchange had increased by 23% in 2017 and by 10% in the first half of 2018. Volodin said that this is reason enough to discuss trade and the legislation of economic relations. The Chairman of the Russian Duma said that the increasing numbers of Serbian tourists in Russia and vice versa are another indicator of the good relations between the two states, as is the fact that more than 60,000 young people in Serbia are learning Russian.
