Orlic receives Bundestag representatives

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlic met with the president of the German Bundestag's Group for Southeast Europe Josip Juratovic and Group members Boris Mijatovic and Thomas Hacker in Belgrade on Friday.

The German MPs said Serbia-Germany political dialogue was regular and of good quality, and noted that a large number of German officials had visited Serbia in less than a year.

They also highlighted the significance of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's attendance at the 59th Munich Security Conference.

Orlic and the Bundestag representatives said bilateral relations in all areas were very good and that economic ties were excellent.

"Germany is our leading economic partner, among our largest investors and our most significant bilateral donor. German companies are employing 80,000 workers in Serbia and we hope the number will reach 100,000 in the nearest possible future," Orlic said.

The Bundestag members welcomed Serbia's progress in its judicial reform and noted that Germany supported efforts made by Serbia on its path to EU membership.

"Despite significant and confirmed results, our European path remains under the burden of the issue of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, in which, in a principled manner and at all levels, we are pursuing a policy of peace and stability and seeking a compromise solution even though we face dangerous and unilateral moves by the other side, evidently aimed at destroying the dialogue completely," Orlic said.

"We want a Community of Serb Municipalities established without delay as we have been waiting for it for 10 years already, and Kurti is openly announcing he will never form it. We demand that safe living conditions be ensured to Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija. Even children there get shot at just because they are Serbs, and when Serb political representatives in Kosovo-Metohija say life for those people is more difficult today than it has ever been before, they speak the truth," Orlic said.

The Bundestag representatives noted the significance of preserving peace and stability across the region and of continued cooperation in all relevant fields.