Brnabic receives Craxi

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic met with the chairwoman of the foreign affairs and defence committee of the Italian Senate Stefania Craxi in Belgrade on Monday.

Brnabic and Craxi agreed that Serbia-Italy cooperation was extremely good and had been improved further recently through numerous bilateral meetings between officials of the two countries.

Brnabic thanked Craxi for Italy's support for Serbia on the path to full EU membership and noted that a soonest possible EU integration of the Western Balkans was a guarantee of prosperity and stability in the region as well as in Europe as a whole.

Craxi noted that the support for Serbia was sincere and that she, too, hoped for a soonest possible EU integration of Serbia as she believed it belonged in the bloc.

Brnabic and Craxi said they were pleased their countries were this year marking 145 years since the establishment of Serbia-Italy diplomatic ties and 15 years since the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries, the Serbian parliament said in a statement.

They highlighted modern technologies and artificial intelligence as some of the areas offering the most space for further advancement of bilateral cooperation.

Brnabic noted that Italy had been Serbia's third-largest external trade partner in 2023, as well as its second-largest foreign investor.

On the other hand, Serbia is Italy's largest external trade partner in the Western Balkans, the statement said.

Brnabic thanked Craxi for the significant contribution to providing security and stability in Kosovo-Metohija through the engagement of Italian KFOR troops and, especially, for the protection of the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Visoki Decani.