Brnabic meets with Varhelyi

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Ana Brnabic met with EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi on Tuesday, noting that rule of law reforms, especially those related to the judiciary and media, were her government's priority.

Brnabic highlighted the recent passage of a set of judicial laws in line with constitutional amendments aimed at strengthening the independence of judicial authorities.

Speaking about the information and media sector, Brnabic said the government had recently adopted an electronic communications bill and that completing amendments to the public information and media act and the electronic media act was the priority.

She added that continued and full implementation of a media strategy was also very important.

Varhelyi said continued work on passing media laws was very important and noted the significance of alignment with EU directives in the field.

He also noted the significance of the passage of the set of judicial laws.

Brnabic and Varhelyi also spoke about energy and cooperation in the sector.

Brnabic said a gas interconnector with Bulgaria would be completed by the end of 2023 and that EU financial assistance aimed at transformation of the energy sector was extremely important for Serbia.

Varhelyi commended the manner in which Serbia was managing the migration crisis and added that the EU was ready to help to address the problem further, the Serbian government press office said in a statement.