Djuric meets with Tajani: Serbia and Italy are family

Minister Djuric pointed out that Italy was a key partner of Serbia and the Western Balkan region, both in terms of economic development and in preserving stability and peace, especially when it comes to the protection of the Visoki Decani monastery and the Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija.

Djuric conveyed the greetings from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Tajani, thanked him for the support in developing economic cooperation between the two countries, and pointed out that in the previous 24 hours alone, as many as two large production plants of Italian companies had been opened on the territory of Serbia.

"These companies will help both the Serbian and Italian economies to develop faster and to be more competitive together, as Europe, in third markets. This type of economic alliance between the Balkans and Italy is key to consolidation and the process of political stabilization, but also to the integration of the entire region in European flows", Djuric pointed out.

The head of Serbian diplomacy emphasized that Serbia was grateful to its Italian friends for their support on its European path, adding that this support was extremely significant and strong.

"We expect to be fully prepared for membership, institutionally and reform-wise, by 2027, but what is very important to us is that we have the support of countries like Italy, whose political weight can contribute to key progress in the accession of Serbia and the entire region to the European Union", Djuric said.

The Minister expressed satisfaction with the level of communication at the high political level, noting the excellent relations between President Vucic, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

"We are looking forward to a joint session of the Serbian and Italian governments that is due by the end of the year. Three major Serbia-Italy business forums have already been held this year and we are very glad the trend will continue. This year we also mark 145 years of our diplomatic relations, which is an extremely important anniversary, as well as 15 years of the strategic partnership between Serbia and Italy", Djuric pointed out.

He recalled that Italy had been the first country in Europe with which Serbia had signed an agreement on strategic partnership.

"Maybe that is why, here today, I need to thank our Italian friends from the bottom of my heart for everything they have been doing for decades to preserve peace in our region, but also for the protection of the Visoki Decani monastery and our cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija. Italy, the people and the Italian Government, can firmly count on Serbia's support in preventing irregular migration through the so-called Balkan route. Last week, Serbia entered into an agreement with Frontex and from now on we can work together to control the irregular migration flows through the Balkans", Djuric said.

He said that Italy and Serbia were countries that cared both about their borders and humaneness, and that they would face this major challenge together.

"To sum up, thank you for the fact that Italy is helping the Balkans to develop economically, to solve its political problems and to always be close to each other as we are today. Serbia has formed a strategic partnership with Italy, which means not only that Italian companies are welcome, but that we will also continue to fight for every new Italian investment in Serbia, because that is mutually beneficial", Djuric stressed.   

He stated that the trade in goods now amounted to billions of euros on an annual basis and that Belgrade, as the host of Expo 2027, which will involve a total of around 17 billion euros in investments, wished to see Italian companies engaged in the realization of this project.

"Serbia is a country where the construction of 10 new highways is currently being carried out, so 500 new kilometres of highway are currently being built, two new high-speed railways, a metro in Belgrade. We want Italian companies to take part in the implementation of these projects in an even greater measure and we want to continue to develop together, as was the case so far. Dear friends, welcome to Serbia", said the head of Serbian diplomacy.

He also pointed out that the citizens of Serbia feel that they are, in the true sense of the word, part of one family with Italy.

"So, Serbia and Italy are one family. And when Fiat starts producing the Grande Panda in Kragujevac, it means that our GDP will jump by 0.5 percent. But it also means that the money from that project will partly flow into Italy and that Italian engineers, industry and factories will benefit from it... So, like in every family, we agree on the division of labour and everyone has their own place and role. A developed Balkans, which Italy is helping today, contributes to the future, security and competitiveness of Italy and Europe in the face of various global challenges", Djuric concluded.

Minister Antonio Tajani pointed out that Serbia was a friendly country, and that his country was firmly committed to supporting the European integration of all Western Balkan countries, even before 2030.

Tajani, along with congratulations on his appointment to the post, thanked Minister Djuric for the visit and the decision to come to Italy immediately.

He pointed out that relations with the countries of the Balkans were a priority of Italian foreign policy, along with relations with Europe and transatlantic relations.

"We believe that the Balkans is a part of Europe that did not have the opportunity to be integrated into the EU strategy due to the dictatorship of the communist regime in Eastern Europe after the Second World War. Therefore, we are firmly committed to supporting the full European integration of all the countries of the Western Balkans, even before 2030, because we believe that it is important to have them as full members of the Union, which is about to face many challenges. We will work in that direction", Tajani said.

He also emphasized that Serbia is a friendly country.

"Our government is willing to strengthen ties with all the countries of the Western Balkans. We have already organized two important business forums with Serbia, one in Belgrade last year and the other this year in Trieste, precisely to strengthen ties between our companies", said Tajani and noted that two important Italian companies have started to operate in new facilities in Serbia.

He also stated that Rome, which fully supported Serbia’s accession to the European Union, was ready to do everything it can to help, and that a joint trade committee would soon be convened to further strengthen relations.

He also announced that a trilateral meeting would be organized with Albania.

"That is an important event for us, because we can strengthen the dialogue and connect with several countries of the Western Balkans at the same time. We will also continue to work within the format we established - 'Friends of Western Balkans', so a meeting of that format will be organized again in Rome, and I hope that it will also be possible to organize one in New York during UN week", Tajani said.

When it comes to the joint fight against irregular migration, he stated that the Balkan route was the route through which many illegal migrants entered Italy, but he also pointed out that Serbia concluded a very good agreement with Frontex, so that there was a good cooperation in place.

"From this point of view, everything is going in a positive direction, we are already working on organizing a meeting of the two governments as agreed between President Vucic and Prime Minister Meloni. That meeting will be held by the end of the year, in order to strengthen the friendship between Italy and Serbia", Tajani added.

He said that with Minister Djuric he had discussed all issues concerning the international situation in the Balkans, the war in Ukraine, as well as the issue of Kosovo and Metohija.

"This was a very positive meeting that affirmed the already solid relations between our countries, which have been friends for a long time. We want to invest more in Serbia, we want Serbian investors to come to our country, as we also talked about raw materials, lithium. It was a very positive meeting. It was not a formal, but a political meeting that confirmed the strength of the relations between our two countries", Tajani said.