In his first official visit to the Russian Federation, Assembly Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic announced a new page in the relations between Serbia and Russia. The Serbian Parliament Speaker stressed that Serbia must not neglect the enormous Russian market and the opportunities it offers. He told the Speaker of the State Duma that Russia is Serbia’s strategic partner. He thanked the Speaker of the State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin, for his statement that Russia believes Serbia its key partner in the Balkans. The Assembly Speaker said that the Serbian Parliament would adopt any laws which would improve the climate for Russian investments.
The Serbian Parliament Speaker also met with the Chairman of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Alexey Pushkov. They agreed in the estimate that interparliamentary ties have to be developed not only at the level of foreign affairs committees, but at the level of committees on economy, energy and other issues as well. Addressing the press after the meeting, Alexey Pushkov said that he personally believes that, since international organisations and western structures are so concerned with the safety of Kosovo Albanians, it is unclear why they are so little concerned with the safety of the Serbian minority. This is an obvious double standard, he stressed. The Serbian Assembly Speaker said that the negotiations and all the activities aimed at resolving the Kosovo-Metohija issue have to take place within UNSC Resolution 1244, which is also the position of the Russian side which keeps offering constant and principled support to the Serbian positions. Deepening bilateral cooperation, constant consultations and concordance of positions at the PACE and Black Sea Initiative are a good indicator of future cooperation in all spheres, concluded Stefanovic.
The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, MA Nebojsa Stefanovic, also met with the high dignitaries of the ruling United Russia, Vladimir Vasilyev and Neverov Ivanovich.