The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Dr Vladimir Orlic received the newly-appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus Andreas Photiou, welcoming him and wishing him success in his new post.
Dr Orlic expressed his belief that, during the Ambassador’s upcoming mandate, the truly friendly relations, based on mutual understanding, support and joint defence of international law, would be continue to improve. He stressed that the two countries enjoy intense political dialogue and maintain a good dynamics of meetings, accompanied by a willingness to further strengthen cooperation in the fields of economy, investments and agriculture, which the National Assembly, its working bodies and departmental committees would contribute to.
Speaker Orlic thanked the Republic of Cyprus for its principled position as regards respect Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as the clear and firm position Cyprus took during so-called "Kosovo’s" Council of Europe bid. He took the opportunity to brief the guest on the extremely difficult situation in Kosovo-Metohija caused by the dangerous, unilateral moves of Albin Kurti. "The security of the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija is threatened and all human rights are violated through the daily terror of Kurti, who tries to forcibly occupy even the facilities used by the Serbs. We cannot and will not allow his intentions to make it impossible for Serbs to survive in Kosovo-Metohija. At the same time, with his openly "Greater Albania" politics, Kurti endangers others in the region, which all together deserves clear and unequivocal condemnation from everyone," said the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, adding that Serbia would continue to pursue the state policy based on maintenance of peace, stability and strong development, led by the President of the Republic Aleksandar Vucic and followed by both the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the Government.
In the course of the meeting, Ambassador Photiou stressed that his country's position on the Kosovo-Metohija issue would not change, thanking Serbia for supporting Cyprus always and at every opportunity. He said that during his term of office, he would contribute to strengthening the ties between the two nations and improving all-round cooperation, with a special focus on promoting Serbia to Cypriot investors and the ties between the two parliaments.