Vucic meets with Austrian interior minister

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner in Belgrade on Tuesday.

After the meeting, Vucic said the discussion with Karner had been excellent and that they had discussed regional security issues, especially given the major security challenges faced by Europe in recent years and escalated by migration patterns caused by war and conflicts in Europe's neighbourhood.

He thanked Austria for its partnership support in implementing border protection measures and reiterated Serbia's commitment to stepping up cooperation in the field, noting that an increased inflow of migrants had put border controls and immigration systems under enormous pressure, raising national security concerns in the majority of countries and also heightening a need for firmer cooperation and exchange of information with a view to resolving the migrant crisis more efficiently, the presidential press office said in a statement.

Speaking about the current situation in the region and worldwide, Vucic especially noted that ongoing political tensions and military conflicts had generally led to increased uncertainty and potential risks of terrorism and radicalisation and that such a dynamic of developments made security frameworks more complex and required a coordinated approach to solving immediate security problems.

The parties also discussed further advancement of bilateral ties and joint projects that will boost stability in the region.

Vucic said he was pleased with the good relations with Austria and thanked the country for supporting Serbia on its EU path.