Djuric: Serbia counts on Greece's strong support on EU path

BELGRADE - Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his Greek counterpart Giorgios Gerapetritis in Belgrade, Serbian FM Marko Djuric said on Friday they had discussed a series of bilateral, regional and international affairs, with emphasis on the European future of the two countries.

Serbia counts on Greece's strong support on the European path, Djuric said at a press conference with Gerapetritis, and reiterated Belgrade's gratitude to Athens for its principled position of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.

He said he was glad to be hosting a great friend of Serbia, an official of friendly and brotherly Greece.

Djuric said a historical friendship and centuries of mutual support in various eras also connected the two countries and nations.

"Today, we chiefly discussed the future, which is European for both Serbia and Greece. Serbia counts on strong support from its Greek friends on the European path. We are grateful to our Greek friends for supporting our European path and, equally so, for the exceptional economic relations," Djuric said.

He noted that the volume of Serbia-Greece bilateral trade had reached 2.2 bln euros in the past year.

Djuric said that nearly a quarter of Serbia's population vacationed in Greece and that Serbia wanted the number to keep growing.

He also invited Greek tourists to visit Serbia and Belgrade.

"I invite them to come in the highest possible numbers and visit our beautiful country, a historic capital with important monuments, including a monument to Rigas Feraios, because the love of freedom is one of the things the two nations have in common," Djuric said.

He said that he had thanked Greece again for its principled position of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.

"I took the opportunity to inform the guests of the situation and the position of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija. It is important to know that Serbia cares about stability, peace and about finding solutions through dialogue but, at the same time, it will not give up on safeguarding its national interests and protecting the rights of the Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church," Djuric said.

He said Orthodox Christianity was another connection between the two countries and nations.

"We also thank Greece for the fact it will participate in the EXPO. For us, the EXPO is an opportunity to change the paradigm of how Serbia is perceived in the world," Djuric said.

He said the meeting with Gerapetritis had also addressed ways the two countries could contribute to improvement of regional cooperation.

"Serbia is ready to make a contribution, including to work jointly on development of infrastructure, mobility and border crossings," Djuric said.