Brnabic: Parliamentary cooperation with Czechia exceptionally good

BELGRADE - Parliamentary cooperation between Serbia and Czechia is exceptionally good and on par with the close and friendly ties between the two countries, Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic said on Thursday after a meeting with Czech Parliament Speaker Tomio Okamura in Belgrade.

Brnabic thanked Okamura for his principled positions on the Kosovo-Metohija issue and the 1999 NATO aggression on Serbia.

She said political dialogue with Czechia was intensive and underway at all levels.

"We have the task and the honour of advancing and deepening that cooperation further at parliamentary level. In the Serbian parliament, there is a parliamentary friendship group with Czechia that is comprised of 30 MPs. The fact that the Czech parliament has a friendship group with Serbia is a great sign of friendship," Brnabic told a press conference in the parliament building.

She thanked Okamura for being one of the few European politicians who had said publicly, directly and openly that the NATO intervention had, in fact, been a NATO aggression on Serbia, and added that, alongside former Czech President Milos Zeman, Okamura had been one of the first politicians to extend an apology to the Serbs for the aggression.

"For us, that is an incredible sign of friendship and respect, and we will never forget that," Brnabic noted.

She said Okamura had often faced enormous consequences due to his statements that Serbia's territorial integrity was sacred to him and that, in his opinion, Kosovo was Serbia.

"On behalf of a vast majority of the citizens, I want to thank him for those positions and to say once again that Serbia, our people and a vast majority of the citizens of Serbia will never forget this," Brnabic said.

She said she was pleased to have had an opportunity to host Okamura, who she noted was a significant partner and a great friend of Serbia.

Brnabic added that she had had a very good meeting with Okamura on the sidelines of a conference of southeast European parliament speakers in Budapest in February.

"That was when we first met and exchanged views, and we realised that we share the very same views on all the most important things and that we hold identical positions," Brnabic said.