The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic is in official visit to Vienna at the invitation of Barbara Prammer, Speaker of the Austrian National Council. In addition to the NARS Speaker, the delegation also comprises deputies Milos Jevtic, President of the Serbia-Austria Parliamentary Friendship Group and Nikola Lazic.

The Serbian and Austrian Parliament Speakers agreed that the very comprehensive talks conducted during last year’s meeting significantly influenced the improvement of parliamentary cooperation which would benefit from more intensive meetings not only between the committees on European integration and foreign affairs and friendship groups, but security committees as well, for the purpose of intensifying anti-corruption activities. Both sides noted that Serbia and Austria enjoy a long history of bilateral, regional and wider relations to which parliamentary cooperation lends particular importance. Prammer stressed that Serbs make up the majority of foreign citizens. Serbs are excellently integrated into Austria and maintain exceptionally good relations with the mother country.

Djukic-Dejanovic pointed out that although the NARS was very intensely active in the legislative sphere (464 laws and 131 other documents), there is still intensive work to be done on harmonising domestic and EU legislation. The Serbian Parliament Speaker thanked Austria for its support of Serbia’s European integration process emphasising how important it is to speed up the Western Balkans EU accession process which would considerably improve both security and the fight against organised crime. Prammer was pleased with the excellent parliamentary cooperation between Serbia and Austria and applauded the ratification of several inter-state agreements such as the one on avoidance of double taxation. At the press conference, Prammer stated that Austria was pleased with the adoption of the resolution by the UN General Assembly that would contribute to the resolution of the open issues between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as expedite Serbia’s EU integration, fully endorsed by Austria.

The Serbian delegation highlighted the importance of the fact that Austria is one of the most economically involved countries in Serbia, particularly in the sphere of investment worth 2.88 billion USD and presence of over 280 Austrian companies which enabled the opening of 20 000 new jobs. Both sides are prepared to continue the cooperation aimed at harnessing the Danube’s potential and emphasised the importance of the upcoming conference on the Danube strategy to be held on 14 and 15 October this year in Novi Sad with the participation of 14 national and 17 regional parliaments of the Danube region.

The Serbian delegation was also received by Federal Council President Martin Preineder, the members of the Austria-Serbia Parliamentary Group and members of the Austrian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.