Djuric meets with Fajon in Ljubljana

LJUBLJANA - Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with Slovenian FM Tanja Fajon in Ljubljana on Tuesday to inform her of the difficult position of Serbs in Serbia's Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija.

"The Serb community in Kosovo-Metohija is in the most difficult position since 1999, and Serbia calls for full implementation of the Brussels Agreement, for full respect of the collective human, political and economic rights of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, for an EU-facilitated process of normalisation of relations that will be based on respect of everything that has been agreed to date," Djuric said after the meeting.

He expressed gratitude for the contribution Slovenian KFOR troops were making to preservation of peace and stability in the province, the Serbian MFA said in a statement.

"Serbia is firmly committed to preservation of stability and peace and to finding European solutions to all outstanding issues in the dialogue with Pristina, but we also demand respect of standards that apply everywhere in Europe and respect of everything that has been agreed," Djuric said.

Welcoming the practice of holding joint sessions of the Serbian and Slovenian governments, Djuric noted that his discussions with Fajon had addressed overall advancement of diplomatic, political and economic relations in all spheres, as well as solving outstanding issues inherited from the past.

"The topics of our discussions also included European integration. Serbia is very grateful to Slovenia for the continued support for the enlargement process in Western Balkan states and, in that sense, I informed my colleague Tanja Fajon of Serbia's intent and ambitions to fully implement by 2027 a reform agenda adopted by the Government of Serbia," Djuric said.

Fajon said Slovenians and Serbs had much in common and that the friendly relations between the two countries rested on solid foundations.

"For Slovenia, Serbia is an extremely important economic partner and a regional actor in our immediate neighbourhood. We maintain regular political contact. Minister Djuric's visit today is a concrete step. We agreed to renew political consultations intensively and to schedule the next joint session of both governments," Fajon said.