Brnabic: Stevanovic's visit important for Serbia-Slovenia bilateral relations, region

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic said on Tuesday a visit to Belgrade by her Slovenian counterpart Zoran Stevanovic was important for bilateral relations, Serbia's EU path, as well as regional cooperation.

At a joint press conference after a meeting with Stevanovic, Brnabic thanked him for coming to Serbia on his first official bilateral visit, as well as for honouring her invitation to visit Belgrade, extended less than a month ago.

"For Serbia, Slovenia is an exceptionally significant partner at all levels - politically, economically, culturally and socially, and a country that supports, strongly and continuously, the Republic of Serbia on our European path and our European integration. It is one of the countries that are currently advocating opening Cluster 3 on our European path," Brnabic said.

Such friends and partners are exceptionally important to Serbia, she added.

Brnabic said she had asked Stevanovic for even more vocal, more active Slovenian support for Serbia on the EU path.

"This meeting and this visit are exceptionally important for us in the regional context as well. In terms of foreign policy, the Republic of Serbia has two strategic priorities. The first strategic priority is full EU membership. The second priority is regional cooperation and building the best possible regional ties with strong inter-human cooperation, strong economic cooperation, and building peace, stability and trust in the region. In that sense, I look forward to us continuing to work with Slovenia on that matter as well," Brnabic said.

She added that Slovenia was an EU member state that knew the region exceptionally well and could be a good and great friend of the entire Western Balkans within European institutions.

Brnabic said parliamentary cooperation between Serbia and Slovenia was good and noted that both she and Stevanovic devoted great attention to parliamentary diplomacy.

"In international and bilateral relations, there are certain things only parliaments, parliament speakers and MPs can do and, in that sense, the best possible parliamentary cooperation between Serbia and Slovenia is important and can be an additional impetus to our steadily improving political and economic relations," Brnabic said.

Commenting on economic cooperation, she said the results were incredible and that the volume of Serbia-Slovenia bilateral trade had reached 2.7 bln euros in 2023.

Brnabic: Issue of position of Serb minority in Slovenia calls for continuous dialogue

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic said on Tuesday the issue of the position of Slovenia's Serb community was exceptionally important to Serbia, and added that it called for continuous dialogue.

Brnabic was speaking to reporters after a meeting with Slovenian counterpart Zoran Stevanovic.

Asked to comment on a Slovenian law forbidding Serbs from voting in local elections in the country, Brnabic responded that she was certain that issue, too, would be discussed openly with the new Slovenian leadership.

She said she was pleased the Slovenian community in Serbia had its national council and was institutionally involved in decision-making in Serbia.

"I really believe we will have very good dialogue on those matters and that we will have a good partner. Naturally, it is an important issue to us, but I expect a very, very good partnership in that sense as well - certainly, with respect for the sovereignty and sovereign decisions of the Republic of Slovenia," Brnabic said.