First off, Marinkovic said that Serbia and Israel share traditionally friendly relations and strong historic ties fostered in the horrific sufferings during World War Two. That is why Serbia would continue to insist on the anti-fascist tradition, he said, adding that the construction of the Memorial Centre for the victims of the Staro Sajmiste death camp would bolster the ties both with the State of Israel and the Jewish community in Serbia.

Marinkovic informed the Ambassador that the 35-member Parliamentary Friendship Group with Israel is one of the biggest in the Serbian Parliament which testifies to the determination to strengthen relations between the two countries, also saying he was sure the cooperation with the Knesset’s Parliamentary Friendship Group with Serbia would be intensified in the coming period.

The Ambassador agreed that the relations between Serbia and Israel are founded in true friendship and solidarity, hoping that they would be furthered through bilateral meetings of the two countries’ high dignitaries and cooperation within international institutions like the United Nations. The Ambassador informed the PFG members that the two countries’ economic relations are excellent, that trade has been on the rise and that the number of tourists from Israel has this year risen by an amazing 100% since the number of direct flights from Belgrade has gone up to 13 a week. She also said that Israeli businessmen are interested in investing into Serbia, especially into real estate, adding that the estimated value of these investments is so far worth 2 million USD, and two big investments into Serbia can be expected in September.

The members of the PFG with Israel then made a number of suggestions for future cooperation mainly concerning agricultural, environmental and IT projects, and an exchange of experiences with Israeli colleagues in a number of areas, with a special focus on the Israeli model of networking between the diaspora and mother country, all aimed toward boosting economic growth.