The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Dr Vladimir Orlic met today with the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Republic of Serbia H.E. Petko Doykov, with whom he discussed the current situation in the region and the further improvement of cooperation in areas of mutual interest, especially those concerning the economy, infrastructure and energy, highlighting the construction of a gas interconnector between the two countries a priority project.
As they noted, the bilateral relations between Serbia and Bulgaria are very good, and the political dialogue is intense and developed. Speaking of parliamentary cooperation, they expressed readiness to develop it further by continuing with the dynamic exchange of visits at the highest level, as well as at the level of working bodies and parliamentary friendship groups. In the course of the meeting, Dr Orlic took the opportunity to congratulate Vezhdi Rashidov on being elected the new Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria and wish him success.
The Serbian Assembly Speaker informed Ambassador Doykov about the pressures, threats and open terror faced by the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija, pointing out that Belgrade, led by President Aleksandar Vucic, would continue to pursue the responsible policy of peace and dialogue, despite the impossible conditions. "Representatives of Serbs from Kosovo-Metohija are very worried because what Albin Kurti has been doing in the past days has been getting worse every day. The Serbian President is trying to preserve the dialogue and find a solution, while we are being met by an obvious attempt to escalate the situation from the other side. It is totally clear who is playing what role at the moment, who is the generator of problems and who is trying to keep the peace. Serbia will stand by its people," said Dr Orlic.
The National Assembly Speaker thanked Bulgaria for supporting Serbia’s European integration and emphasised the commitment to regional cooperation and the "Open Balkans" initiative as an economic stimulus, provided peace is preserved in the region.
The Bulgarian Ambassador praised Serbia's treatment of national minorities, the existing legislative framework protecting their rights, as well as the fact that the new Serbian Government set up a Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue. He expressed the hope that the Serbian side will continue to provide the Bulgarian national minority with the conditions necessary to exercise their rights, in accordance with the best European practices.
In the course of the meeting, the officials also talked about the possibilities to further intensify the already excellent trade and jointly assessed that the tourism sector has great potential to contribute to the overall economic development of both countries, so there was talk of improving cooperation in this area as well.
