The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic is visiting the European Parliament, at the invitation of EP President Jerzy Buzek.

In a very cordial meeting, the European Parliament President congratulated Serbia’s approach to full membership in the European Union so far, and expressed hope that Serbia would soon gain candidacy status and that the date for the commencement of talks would be set at the same time.

“Serbia is the key country in the region and the heart of the Western Balkans. The number of MPs who voted for the ratification of the SAA and Resolution on Serbia’s European Integration demonstrates our clear support of Serbia”, said Buzek, also commending the completion of the Questionnaire.

The officials agreed that the fight against corruption and organised crime, judicial reform, commencement of dialogue with Pristina, full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and protection of human and minority rights are extremely important issues on which Serbia will focus even more.

The National Assembly Speaker emphasised her appreciation of the European parliamentarians’ support of Serbia on the road to the European Union. Adding that in the current convocation the NARS had passed a great number of laws harmonising Serbian and European legislation, she stated that the adoption of laws regulating the financing of political parties, restitution, blank resignations will be among the legislative priorities in 2011. One of the priorities is also the amendment of the Rules of Procedure, as well as strengthening the National Assembly’s monitoring role.

The Speaker stressed that Serbia attributes great importance to the improvement of relations with its neighbours, which is reflected in the excellent cooperation between the NARS Speaker and her counterparts from all the countries in the region and intensive interparliamentary contacts.

The NARS Speaker invited president Buzek to visit Serbia and take part in the First Conference of Parliament Speakers of Danube Region States and Regions to be held in April 2011 in Novi Sad, and he accepted with pleasure.

At the press conference, Buzek said that these were “good days” for Serbia and that Serbia should continue to invest maximum efforts in its further steps towards the EU.