Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Sarec has chosen Serbia for his first official visit in the Western Balkans region, where Slovenia has significant foreign and economic interests. At the invitation of Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Sarec is visiting the largest country of the former Yugoslavia and was received by the entire Serbian state leadership.
Prime Minister Šarec and his Serbian counterpart confirmed the good relations between the two countries while also exploring ways to deepen both political and economic cooperation. Šarec reiterated Slovenia’s strong support for EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.
There are no major open issues between the two countries, they are important economic partners.While trade in goods already rose by 14% in 2018 compared to 2017 to exceed EUR 1.5 billion, Šarec said opportunities needed to be used both in the economy and in tourism. His host Brnabic singled out Slovenia as one of the biggest investors in Serbia, with around 1,600 Slovenian companies active there. It is also a key foreign investor, she added, while expressing her expectation Serbian investment in Slovenia would grow too. She labelled the total trade of EUR 1.6 million recorded in 2018 as impressive, but expressed hope it would exceed EUR 2 billion in 2020.
Brnabić also thanked Slovenia for its strong support for EU enlargement, while Šarec stressed Slovenia would insist enlargement needed to be addressed, even if “it is true that currently the climate is not very favourable for enlargement”. He added enlargement was a long process that required reforms, which in turn also required encouragement.
Implementation of the agreement on succession to the former Yugoslavia remains an open issue with Serbia, with a joint session of the two countries’ governments seen as a chance to speed up the resolution of these issues. Brnabić expressed hope the session could be held before the end of the year. The idea is to combine the joint session – such sessions have been organised since 2013 and the last one was held in Slovenia at the start of 2018 – with a business forum.
Also commenting on the Slovenia-Serbia agreement governing the employment of Serbian workers in Slovenia which will enter into force in September, Brnabić said she did not expect the agreement to cause a major workforce outflow from Serbia. Its main purpose is providing for safety and protection of the workers, she said.
Šarec was also received by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Parliamentary Speaker Maja Gojković, while he is also scheduled to meet Slovenians who are living or are active in Serbia. Vučić thanked Šarec for Slovenia’s support to Serbia in the process of EU accession, especially for the political, technical and expert assistance in individual negotiating chapters, added the office of the Serbian president.
“For Serbia, Slovenia is very important as an economic partner with which there are stable economic flows, a connection between the markets and increasingly successful investment cooperation,” said Serbian President Vucic.
While Vučić also emphasised Slovenia’s importance as an economic partner, Šarec said that Slovenia supported dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina as the country’s interest was that the relations in the region were good.
The frequency of visits shows that of all Western Balkans countries, Slovenia maintains the closest contacts with Serbia. In January this year, Slovenian President Borut Pahor paid an official visit to Serbia, along with a strong business delegation consisting of over 100 Slovenian businessmen and employers.