Djuric visits Estonia

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric, who is visiting Estonia, said in Tallinn on Monday taking a new step towards building a relationship with Estonia and other Baltic nations was extremely important for Serbia.

After meeting with Estonian FM Margos Tsahkna, Djuric noted that Serbia and Estonia shared not only the same continent but many passions and concerns also shared by other Europeans.

"We share a passion for new technologies, and Serbia's IT sector is growing at an extremely fast pace and has become one of the key drivers of our economy. With that in mind, I believe we should explore modalities for cooperation not only in that sphere, but also in other aspects of our economies as well as our societies at various levels," Djuric noted.

Djuric thanked Estonia for supporting Serbia on its EU path, noting that it was important to learn from the experiences of Baltic states, Estonia in particular, while reforming and transforming governance and society in Serbia.

"I would also like to say that EU membership is the key strategic commitment of the Serbian government and we want to carry out all the required reforms by 2027," Djuric said.

He said this also included the EU's foreign and security policy, and noted that Serbia had fully supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the principles of international law, not only in that case, but universally, and would continue to advocate those principles.

Djuric said he and his counterpart had also had an opportunity to exchange information on the situation in the Western Balkan and Baltic regions, respectively.

He said Serbia was grateful to Estonia for supporting the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

"I am confident that we will establish more significant cooperation in various fields in the future and I would like to welcome Estonian companies that are exploring Serbia as a growing and developing economy in our part of Europe," Djuric said.

Tsahkna said Djuric's visit was greatly important for advancement of Serbia-Estonia bilateral relations and noted that 14 years had passed since the last official meeting of the FMs of the two countries.

He said his country firmly supported Serbia on its EU path.

He said both countries shared a passion for IT and the digital sector and noted that he was glad they had joint project in that field, including in digital government and cyber security.

He expressed support for a continuation of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, which he said should lead to a long-term solution in the process of normalisation of relations.