Starovic meets with Spain's Sampedro in Madrid

MADRID - Serbian Minister of European Integration Nemanja Starovic met on Wednesday in Madrid with the Spanish MFA's State Secretary for the European Union Fernando Sampedro.

"Starovic thanked Sampedro for the continued support that Spain provides to Serbia on its path to EU membership," the Serbian government said in a statement.

Opening Cluster 3 in the accession talks was "highlighted as important in order to valorise the outcomes of the reform processes implemented in Serbia, but also to confirm the credibility of the EU enlargement process based on the merits of candidates."

"Sampedro emphasised that the Kingdom of Spain remains firmly in its position of respecting the territorial integrity of internationally recognised states and, in this sense, treats Kosovo-Metohija exclusively as part of the Republic of Serbia," it also said.

In Madrid, Starovic also met with Spanish Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory Angel Víctor Torres Perez.

He thanked Torres Perez for the removal of Croatian Ustasha symbols from the grave of the warden of the WWII-era Jasenovac death camp, Vjekoslav Maks Luburic, in Carcaixent near Valencia.

They agreed that "preserving the historical memory of Nazi crimes during World War II is a civilisational obligation and that any glorification of criminals from that period is unacceptable in contemporary Europe and the world," the statement also said.