Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selaković has stated today that one of the priorities of the new Serbian Government is further engagement in improving regional cooperation.
Addressing the foreign ministers of the Berlin Process participating countries at the video-conference, Minister Selaković has said that it is a natural step in Serbia’s continuous commitment to strengthening connectivity in a number of areas, particularly through regional initiatives and processes.
According to him, it is vital that the focus has been placed on two topics simultaneously: youth matters, particularly youth cooperation in the Western Balkans, and the role of the civil society in the region.
The head of Serbian diplomacy has noted that the modern phenomenon of youth migration is a challenge which not only Serbia, but also the entire region faces, as well as many other European countries, including some EU member states.
As he recalled, in order to efficiently address the phenomenon of economic migration, in March 2020, the Serbian Government adopted the ‘Economic Migration Strategy for the period 2021–2027’, whose first three-year Action Plan particularly refers to young people and envisages concrete measures, such as the implementation of the programme ‘My First Salary’, grant assistance for young farmers who register their agricultural holdings, continuous assistance to young scientists and researchers, improvement of measures for housing provision, etc.
Addressing the issue of the role of the civil society in the region, which has been the second topic of today’s meeting, Selaković has stressed that the Serbian Government is always ready to cooperate with the civil sector, which has also been clearly indicated by President Aleksandar Vučić who said that the civil sector is the Government’s true partner in building democracy.
Minister Selaković has invited the Berlin Process participants to consider the possibility of contributing with appropriate donations to the Western Balkans Fund as the only regional organisation which is under the sole responsibility of ministers of foreign affairs and which is their unique means for improving regional cooperation, as well as for the development of the civil society and deepening contacts between the citizens of the region.
He has concluded that Serbia is continuously and strongly committed to actively working on the improvement of regional cooperation.
“For us ourselves, future generations and common prosperity, it is necessary to make such steps and give a full chance to regional cooperation, regional stability and further progress of all Western Balkan countries towards full-fledged and deserved EU membership”, said Selaković.
Reacting to the views expressed by the so-called Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Pristina, Meliza Haradinaj-Stublla, Minister Selaković has expressed his regret at the fact that the so-called Minister did not understand the essence of the format and the reasons why German Chancellor Angela Merkel initiated the Berlin Process in 2014. Selaković has emphasised that it would be better for the PISG in Pristina to work on the implementation of the Brussels Agreement, instead of misusing the format of the Berlin Process for expressing unilateral views of the events from the past, stressing that the point of this process is the future of the region and everything that can make it better.
Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimović has also attended today’s ministerial meeting of the Berlin Process participating countries.
Source and photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tanjug
