Esteemed Mr. Kukan,

Mr. Kacin,

Esteemed Mr. Degert,

Honoured members of the European Parliament and fellow deputies,

Dear friends,

It is my great pleasure and honour to welcome you to the 4^th inter-parliamentary meeting at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

This meeting is particularly important because the past year has been the most successful one for our country in the European integration process resulting in the best Progress Report to date, decision on the abolishment of the visa regime, “unfreezing” of the Transitional Agreement and submission of the EU candidacy request. These events, which are a big encouragement for Serbia, have mostly been achieved thanks to great dedication and engagement on meeting the Copenhagen membership criteria and special conditions for Western Balkan states. Still, we are well aware that there is a lot of work yet to be done in the process.

Regarding the specific issues that will be debated at this inter-parliamentary meeting, allow me to point out the following:

· The Law on cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro and the Tribunal adopted by the Serbia and Montenegro Assembly in 2002 is the main legal framework governing cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and a binding document for the actions of all competent state authorities.

· Regarding the NARS activities following the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in the Hague on the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija, I would like to stress that the current National Assembly convocation passed a decision on 26 July 2010 on the continued activities of the Republic of Serbia on the resolution of the issue. By this document the National Assembly states that ”it is necessary to negotiate a lasting, feasible and mutually acceptable solution for Kosovo-Metohija”

· The submission of a joint resolution proposal with the EU regarding the opinion of the International Court of Justice accepted by the UNGA acclamation on 9 September 2010 lent new stimulus to Serbia’s European progress.

· In the period from July 2008 to June 2010, 75% of the National Programme of RS integration into the European Union (adopted on 9 October 2008) has been fulfilled. I would like to draw special attention to the fact that this year the Assembly has significantly contributed to the process by exceeding the planned fulfillment of the National Programme.

It would be very significant for Serbia if the mark for its best year of European integration were to be repeated in 2010 thus continuing the positive dynamics. We applaud the ratification of the SAA by EU member states so far and hope for a prompt EU Council decision to forward our membership request to the European Commission for ruling.

Honoured colleagues,

I would also like to stress that Serbia is extremely dedicated to regional cooperation, joint creation of a region of peace, security and economic prosperity, resolution of all disputed issues and joint fight against corruption and organised crime.

The competent RS state authorities have continued working on the judiciary reform and are ready to continue to work, along with the European Commission, on eliminating the problems that arose on the re-election of judges, since all the other aspects of the judiciary reform have been declared efficient and successful.

We are also implementing all the obligations undertaken from the roadmap on the liberalisation of the visa regime and are dedicated to improving the information of our citizens on the rights and obligations stemming from it. We are determined in our intention to oppose corruption and organised crime, evidenced by our numerous activities and achieved results.

We have successfully put into practice the agreements in the spheres of free trade, energy, transport and environment with our regional and EU partners. I would like to take the opportunity to inform you that Serbia will chair some significant regional initiatives - the SE European Cooperation Process, Central European Initiative and Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, at the beginning and middle of 2011.

Esteemed participants,

The debate today and tomorrow will deal with topics important for Serbia’s European integration process, and what I wish to highlight is that these topics are at the same time vitally important for the better lives of our citizens.

It is on us, the elected representatives of the citizens of Serbia, to create the conditions for a better life of the Serbian citizens, through the adopted legislation and its implementation and to monitor if and how these laws are enforced through our control role. We are still lacking adequate funds and facilities to effectively monitor the work of the executive power which is the projection of the citizens’ legitimate right to have insight into the enforcement of laws. In this manner, the citizens could influence a higher level of responsibility, efficiency and quality of public administration.

I am sure that we have true friends in many of the parliaments of European Union member states, as well as the European Parliament, with whom we can share experiences and adopt the best solutions and best practices. This is evidenced by the recent creation of an informal Friendship Group with Serbia in the European Parliament, which I would like to specially applaud.

I believe that continued joint conferences, debates and roundtables will give impulse to speed up the process of reaching the RS strategic priority – European Union membership.

I wish you successful work and thank you for your attention.