The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic received European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin, in visit to Serbia from 19 to 21 December.

In the meeting with the NARS Speaker, Kacin stressed: “Since Serbia is a parliamentary state the role of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia needs to be strengthened”, adding that the European Parliament holds the results the NARS has achieved in the past two years in high regard.

“The direct presence of its highest officials in the Union’s institutions and strengthening of the Assembly’s international activity is a priority”, said Kacin. He added that in the next year it would be important to enact as many legal documents as possible so as to encourage foreign investment. ”Therefore the Government and the National Assembly must join forces on the drafting of said documents as they contribute, first of all, to the strengthening of the economy, the Serbian state and a better standard of living for its citizens”, said the EU Rapporteur.

Kacin informed the NARS Speaker that the European Parliament would ratify the SAA on 19 January 2011, when it would vote on the adoption of the Proposal of the Resolution for Serbia’s European integration. Kacin said that he would urge all the parliaments of EU member states which have not yet ratified the SAA, to do so as soon as possible.

Djukic-Dejanovic said that Serbian parliamentarians follow the events at the European Parliament particularly those relating to the Resolution submitted by Kacin. “Serbia is hard at work on the drafting and adoption of laws compliant with the legal heritage of the European Union”, said the Speaker.

The blank resignations and electoral laws were also among the topics of conversation.

The Serbian Parliament Speaker informed the European Parliament Rapporteur that the Assembly had finalised its work on the answers to the EC questionnaire. The answers will be forwarded to the European Integrations Committee by the end of the week, and after the Committee’s evaluation will be forwarded to the European Integration Office as coordinator of the process.