Serbia takes over CEFTA presidency

BELGRADE - Serbia took over the one-year Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) presidency from Montenegro on Monday, and its Minister of Internal and External Trade Tomislav Momirovic expects to see Pristina's ban on Serbian goods end in 2024.

In an interview for Tanjug, Momirovic said the CEFTA presidency was very important for Serbia and that he expected it to help the country overcome challenges and turn to the future.

"I am very proud of the presidency. Unfortunately, CEFTA has been under a certain blockade for several years now because of the interim institutions in Pristina, which are blocking its work unilaterally. You know we are still facing a blockade of trade in Serbian goods in the territory of Kosovo-Metohija, but I expect we will resolve that and show additional responsibility," Momirovic said.

He said CEFTA member states were among Serbia's key strategic economic partners and that Serbia had a major trade surplus with them, which he noted slightly exceeded 2.3 bln euros.

He said that, however, the EU - including Germany in particular - was Serbia's main economic partner and that the volume of annual bilateral trade with the country was close to 8 bln euros.

"China is next - with it, we have had an (annual) external trade volume of 4.7 bln euros and strong growth of exports in recent years," Momirovic said.

He said Serbia's potential would be reduced by possible economic stagnation in Europe, above all, in Germany and France, the largest economies on the continent.