At the beginning of the meeting, Jasmina Obradovic reminded the guest that she has been the head of this Parliamentary group for 11 years and a member of the Serbian Parliament since 2012.

She said that the 64-strong Parliamentary Friendship Group confirms how interested the members of the Serbian Parliament are in cooperation with Switzerland.

Ms. Obradovic especially praised the constant improvement of the trade and goods exchange between Serbia and Switzerland, declaring the economic relations traditionally good and diverse. She said that of around 600 business entities registered on the territory of Serbia, the majority are owned by Swiss citizens and they employ about 12,000 workers. She added that Switzerland is on the list of the largest investors in the Serbian economy and among the biggest donors of developmental and humanitarian aid.

The Head of the PFG with Switzerland underlined that the Serbian leadership’s primary task is to preserve stability in the region and protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia. She referred to the importance of the "Open Balkans" initiative as an example of successful regional cooperation which is, as such, the best way to prepare our countries for EU membership.

"We highly value your support for our path to equal membership in the EU, reforms are our primary goal, with a special focus on the rule of law," Obradovic stressed.

Ambassador Urs Schmid agreed that relations are at a good level, however, he added that there is room for additional improvement of bilateral cooperation, especially through more intensive parliamentary cooperation, reminding the hosts of the visit of Swiss National Council President Isabelle Moret to the Serbian Parliament in 2020.

The Ambassador spoke of the vast Serbian diaspora living in Switzerland, pointing out that around 150,000 Serbian citizens are registered, half of whom have dual citizenship.

The Ambassador said that the cooperation programme between our two countries consists of three areas: democratic governance and civil society, economic development and employment, and climate change and sustainable development. He added that there is also cooperation in the field of IT.

The meeting was attended by PFG members Andrijana Avramov, Aleksandar Markovic and Stanislava Janosevic.