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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Economic cooperation between Serbia, Germany getting closer, better

Belgrade, 10 June 2022

President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic stated today that he exchanged views with Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz on the current global and regional situation, but also on Serbia's European future and expansion of bilateral and economic cooperation.

At a joint press conference with the German Chancellor, Vucic said that Serbia and Germany are cooperating closer and better in the field of economy, that Germany is Serbia's first foreign trade partner, and that Serbia is Germany's largest trade partner in the Western Balkans.

He stated that in only the first four months of this year, there was an increase in trade of 25.7 percent compared to last year, expressing the expectation that it will amount to €7.5 billion by the end of the year.

This makes Germany by far the most important trade partner of Serbia, the President said and underlined that there are good conditions for investment in our country and that German companies currently employ 77,000 people in Serbia.

The President assessed that Scholz brought new hope for everyone in the Western Balkans regarding EU enlargement.

He said that he expects great progress of Serbia and the countries of the Western Balkans on the European path next year and expressed conviction that Germany and Chancellor Olaf Scholz will advocate for faster progress of the region on that path.

We have absolute confidence in Chancellor Scholz and his words that he is very committed to the progress of the Western Balkans towards the EU, Vucic reiterated and announced that if progress is made in dialogue with Pristina and the rule of law, significant progress in the EU accession process can be expected in December.

At the same time, the President announced that Olaf Scholz asked Serbia to join the sanctions against the Russian Federation.

We talked about the political situation in the world, and in a very decisive, clear and sharp way, Scholz asked Serbia to join the sanctions against Russia, that is, to support the restrictive measures that the EU has already adopted against Russia, said Vucic.

The issue of Kosovo and Metohija and the dialogue in Brussels were also discussed at the meeting, he said, confirming that this was the first time today that someone from Europe has asked Serbia for mutual recognition with Kosovo, stating that Serbia will consider how to behave in the coming period.

He reminded that UN Resolution 1244, which guarantees Serbia's territorial integrity, is still in full force, noting that our country has never given up on dialogue and has accepted every invitation to talks.

Speaking about the upcoming winter and the difficulties we are facing, Vucic said that Scholz offered Germany's help in finding a solution to the crisis we are already feeling, and we will only feel it in terms of building energy capacities that would connect us with the rest of the region.

Scholz said that he is in favour of Serbia and the countries of the Western Balkans joining the European Union as soon as possible, and added that the region can count on the support of Germany in that sense.

My goal is to succeed in that, not in the distant future, but as soon as possible, he stressed and added that the speed of EU accession depends on many factors, primarily on countries that want to join the EU and their efforts to meet all necessary conditions for accession, but also from the ambition and dynamics of the EU in that direction.

Germany wants to push back the European perspective of the Western Balkans promised two decades ago in Thessaloniki, and at the same time expects the candidates to join the sanctions against the Russian Federation, the Chancellor underlined.

He reiterated that he also discussed the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina with President Vucic, saying that progress in the dialogue is something that is needed.

According to him, he called on all leaders to make sure that there is progress, to conclude small agreements, which would improve the normalisation of relations as a whole.

The Chancellor underlined that the economic relations between the two countries are developing well and expressed confidence that the trend of job growth that German companies create in Serbia will continue.