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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Excellent political, economic relations between Serbia, Czech Republic

Belgrade, 10 February 2021

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated today, after a meeting with Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babis, that the two countries have extraordinary relations, which are reflected in trade and economic cooperation, which amounted to €1.2 billion in 2020.

At a joint press conference with Babis, Brnabic stated that the focus of today's talks between the delegations of the two countries was health, i.e. the fight against coronavirus, and added that currently the most important issue is mass vaccination.

She pointed out that since this morning, the Serbian and Czech expert delegations have been discussing the system for applying for vaccination through eGovernment portal and determining the priorities within mass vaccination.

So far, we have changed the protocol for the treatment of coronavirus patients 10 times and that is exactly why Serbia is recording success in the fight against that virus, Brnabic said.

Another reason for success is a large degree of hospitalisation, which is much bigger than in other countries of Europe and the world.

Now, the most important thing is mass vaccination, and it is our duty to share everything we can with our friends and partners in these difficult times, the Prime Minister said.

She pointed out that excellent relations between Serbia and the Czech Republic are maintained through regular visits and meetings at the highest level, recalling her meeting with Babis in Prague in 2018, then participation in the Visegrad Group meeting in 2019, and the presence of President Aleksandar Vucic at the Summit of the Visegrad Group.

The Prime Minister announced that the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs will visit Belgrade at the end of March with a delegation consisting of businessmen.

Brnabic also recalled that President Vucic decorated Czech President Milos Zeman and added that the date of the visit of the President of Serbia to the Czech Republic is being agreed on.

The Serbian Prime Minister said that the Czech Republic is one of the biggest promoters of the EU enlargement policy when it comes to the Western Balkans, and added that that country has already announced a platform for its EU presidency in 2022, in which enlargement is one of the priorities.

As she underlined, good relations are reflected in trade and economic cooperation, and in 2020, trade cooperation amounted to €1.2 billion.

We are recording a surplus, which speaks of our cooperation and the presence of Czech investors, said the Prime Minister, and added that one of the biggest investments is the acquisition of Telenor, worth €2.8 billion.

According to Brnabic, the number of investments and the great interest of Czech investors in Serbia speak in favour of both political and economic relations.

Brnabic said that in all bilateral talks or talks with Czech partners on the sidelines of meetings and conferences, she was encouraged by the position of that country regarding the European integration of Serbia and the entire Western Balkans.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis assessed that the relations between the two countries are friendly and that Serbia is an important long-term partner of the Czech Republic, which supports its European path.

He said that at today's meeting with Brnabic, the vaccination system in Serbia and its experiences in the fight against COVID-19 were discussed, which is extremely important for the expert team that came to Belgrade with him.

The most important topic of our meeting was vaccination. Serbia has vaccinated more than half a million people, it is the second in Europe and the seventh in the world. Between 30,000 and 40,000 people are vaccinated here daily, and this number is expected to increase because revaccination is coming, stated the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.

Speaking about immunisation, Brnabic said that our country is in negotiations with the Russian Institute Gamaleya regarding additional quantities of Sputnik V vaccines, but also regarding the procurement of a new vaccine Sputnik Light.

She added that Serbia is negotiating with partners from the Russian Federation on the production of the Sputnik vaccine at the Torlak Institute in Belgrade.

Brnabic announced that a delegation from Russia will arrive in Belgrade tomorrow in order to continue talks on that matter, expressing hope that Serbia will be one of the countries producing a vaccine against the coronavirus.

The Prime Minister conveyed that Serbia has experience with three types of vaccines, namely Pfizer-BioNTtech, Sputnik and Sinopharm, adding that she cannot assess which is better, but that it seems to her that they are all equally good.