Slovenia supports Serbia’s EU integration

Belgrade/Ljubljana, Jan 21, 2009 – Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic announced today in Ljubljana that at a meeting with EU officials in Brussels on January 26, Serbia will ask EU members to support the unfreezing of the Transitional Trade Agreement.
At a press conference following his meeting with his Slovenian counterpart Samuel Zbogar, Jeremic said that Serbia has Slovenia’s full support for its EU Integration process.
Having stressed that Serbia’s foreign policy priority in 2009 is the road to the EU, Jeremic noted that Slovenia will continue endorsing Serbia, adding that at the moment it is crucial to unfreeze the Transitional Trade Agreement as soon as possible, with which Zbogar fully agreed.
Jeremic added that they also discussed ways to overcome current obstacles on this path.
Speaking about bilateral relations between the two countries, he voiced his pleasure at the fact that agreement has been reached on the so-called “deleted” Slovenian citizens, amongst whom are many Serbian nationals. Namely, these citizens were denied the right to stay in Slovenia since they had not applied for Slovenian citizenship in 1991.
He added that the meeting also looked at the issue of the Serbian language as an optional subject in Slovenian schools, noting that he and Zbogar agreed that to solve this issue in 2009.
I am optimistic when it comes to bilateral relations between Serbia and Slovenia, concluded Jeremic.
Zbogar said that Slovenia strongly supports Serbia’s EU aspirations and recalled that having signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, Serbia must work on unfreezing the Transitional Trade Agreement.
He voiced his belief that Serbia will achieve visa liberalisation this year and fulfil all the preconditions for its EU accession, adding that Slovenia will advocate for Serbia within the EU.
Zbogar said that the countries will soon find a solution for the problem of Serbian companies whose property remained in Slovenia after the break up of Yugoslavia and announced that a meeting concerning this issue will be held in Belgrade in March.
He pointed out that the process of granting permanent residence has already started in Slovenia.
Zbogar said that bilateral relations between Serbia and Slovenia are very good, adding that they should be even better in 2009, especially in economic term.
Jeremic also met with Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor. In the afternoon the Minister will meet with Slovenian President Danilo Türk and Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Ivo Vajgl.