Djuric: Serbia, Greece connected by friendship, strategic partnership

ATHENS - Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with his Greek counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis in Athens on Wednesday as part of an official visit to Greece.

Djuric and Gerapatritis signed a MoU on cooperation between their ministries.

After the meeting, Djuric said Serbia saw the relations with Greece as a strategic partnership, the Serbian MFA said in a statement.

"We consider Greece our closest strategic partner and collaborator in this part of the world. In the coming period, that must be reflected even more in our economic relations, in which I see enormous potential for growth," Djuric said, noting that both sides were committed to build new corridors to connect transport infrastructure between the two countries.

Djuric said his meetings in Athens had been held in the spirit of the centuries-long tradition of friendship and brotherhood between the two countries and the two nations.

He said the discussions had taken place in a European context, in which he noted Serbia owed special gratitude to Gerapatritis and Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis for supporting the vision of a European Serbia.

"With its economic strength, with its pool of talent, Serbia will be another significant addition to the overall European project but I daresay that, with Serbia in the EU, Greece's position, too, will be stronger at the same time," Djuric said.

He thanked Greece for a vision supporting EU enlargement in the entire Balkans.

Speaking about energy diversification, Djuric said Serbia consumed increasing quantities of LNG and other fuels and that Greece, as a country with new terminals and new capacities for supplying gas, could make a major contribution to diversification of energy supplies, which he noted would ensure continued unobstructed industrial development in Serbia.

He thanked Greece for its principled support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia when it comes to Kosovo-Metohija, as well as for its full understanding for the difficult situation of the Christian Orthodox Serb population in the province.

He said he had informed his discussion partners in Athens of the most recent wave of pressure targeting the Serbs as a result of unilateral measures by the Pristina regime.

"I pointed out Serbia's firm advocacy of resolving these relations through dialogue based on implementation of agreements reached in Brussels, as well as on respect of fundamental standards when it comes to human rights and the rights of national communities applicable not only in Europe but in other parts of the world as well," Djuric noted.

He also stressed that Serbia remained fully consistent in its respect of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Greece on all its borders, including all islands, land and sea.

Gerapatritis said Greece and Serbia cherished historic, cultural and religious ties and that the strategic character of those ties had been confirmed in 2019, at the third meeting of the High Council on Cooperation.

"Your presence here gives us an opportunity to deepen the exceptional ties of friendship and solidarity between our peoples, and today's signing of the MoU is a proof of mutual willingness to do so," he told Djuric.

He said his meeting with Djuric had also been an opportunity for Greece to reiterate its full support for Serbia's EU path, and noted that Serbia's EU accession was a geopolitical necessity, as noted by the Greek PM in a letter to the PMs of EU member states and EU officials, in which he has called for adopting an European Commission proposal to open Cluster 3 in the accession talks with Serbia.

Besides bilateral cooperation, Djuric and Gerapetritis also discussed economic cooperation, particularly touching upon investments, the international EXPO 2027 - to be hosted by Belgrade - and promotion of transport, infrastructure and energy projects.