Today at the National Assembly House, the Chairman of the European Integrations Committee Laszlo Varga talked to the Director of the South and South Eastern Europe Department of the Czech Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ivana Hlavsova.

Director Hlavsova pointed out that the bilateral relations between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Serbia are on a constant rise which is considerably aided by their intensive interparliamentary cooperation. She wanted to know Serbia’s next steps on the road to the European Union.

Varga deemed that Serbia had taken several big steps towards the European Union last year i.e. visa liberalisation, deblocking of the Transitional Trade Agreement and submission of EU membership candidacy. He is of the opinion that this year too will call for an extensive engagement of the competent institutions, the Government and Parliament, in this sphere. Namely, Serbia decided to fill in the EU questionnaires so that, once it officially received them from the European Commission, it could answer and return them to the Commission as soon as possible.

The Committee Chairman expects the Dutch Parliament will ratify the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Serbia and the European Union in June.

At the Czech guest’s question how much support there was among the political parties and the public regarding Serbia’s accession to the EU, Varga said that at least two thirds of Serbian citizens, as well as the biggest opposition party support the process. He stressed that the National Assembly passed a large number of laws last year and was among the three most productive parliaments in Europe. He also added that the adoption of the Law on the National Assembly presented a significant step in strengthening the parliament’s role in and influence on Serbia’s approach to the European Union, and that the new Rules of Procedure that should be adopted by the end of the current session would open new perspectives for work on the integrations thus ensuring an even higher efficiency.