Gojkovic said that the existence of this group in the European Parliament proves that Serbia has true friends who wish to help it along in the European integration process, stressing that the decision to open chapters 23 and 24 is good news for Serbia.

“That is an important message for the citizens of Serbia who in the recent elections asserted their commitment to the country’s European path”, said Gojkovic stressing that Serbia will continue to conduct reforms in order to ensure European standards for its citizens, and the question of when it would become a member of the European Union, is up to the EU and its member states to decide.

Gojkovic said that the previous parliamentary legislature had invested considerable effort to include the National Assembly in the European integration process, adding that the previous legislature had passed 384 laws and 243 other documents, among them many reform laws and laws harmonizing the national with the European legislation.

“The new National Assembly legislature is to tackle the comprehensive and important task of continuing the ongoing reforms, harmonizing the national legislation with the EU acquis and reviewing Serbia’s positions in the EU accession talks, for which we have been thoroughly prepared”, said Gojkovic.

The MEPs welcomed the upcoming opening of negotiating chapters 23 and 24, stressing that it is important to continue with the European integration and the reforms.

The President of “Friends of Serbia”, Emilian Pavel said he was very pleased by the National Assembly’s overwhelming support for Serbia’s European integration, expecting that the Parliament would continue to pass reform laws.

The MEPs spoke to the National Assembly Speaker about the activities “Friends of Serbia” has conducted to promote Serbia from the group’s establishment in 2015 to date, and emphasized the importance of concrete cross-border cooperation projects as additional incentive for cooperation in the region.

The delegation of “Friends of Serbia” also comprises MEPs Franc Bogovic, Eduard Kukan, Tanja Fajon, Andor Deli and Paul Tang.