Mitsotakis: Serbia, Greece should boost economic ties, especially in energy sector

BELGRADE - Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is visiting Belgrade, said after a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic he was accompanied by four government ministers and a large number of Greek businesspeople in a bid to boost bilateral economic relations in concrete sectors and projects, in the energy and transport sectors in particular.

"I think we had very good bilateral contacts and we are particularly interested in connecting our countries in the energy sector and transport," Mitsotakis said at a press conference with Vucic ahead of a Serbia-Greece business forum at the Palace of Serbia.

He said Serbia and Greece were not only geographically close but had also been together in all historical periods.

Thanking Vucic for his exceptional hospitality and a very substantial discussion, Mitsotakis said bilateral cooperation with Serbia was strategic in nature.

"We always look to the future, to peace, development and social prosperity in Greece, Serbia, the Balkans and Europe in general," Mitsotakis noted.

He said his discussions with Vucic had also addressed modernisation of the Belgrade-Thessaloniki rail line and the completion of a railway corridor from Piraeus to Budapest.

"That is strategically important not only for our country, but also for entire southeastern Europe. In that sense, we must also utilise European funds for the Western Balkans," Mitsotakis said, noting that his country encouraged the EU's practical involvement in infrastructural development of Serbia and all other Balkan countries.

He said the cooperation with Serbia would expand to the energy sector, including energy security and diversification of energy supplies.

"We support vertical transport of gas from the south to the north and vice versa. The executive director of the natural gas company is also here with us, and he is interested in cooperation with your companies. If you could let us use the large storage centres that you have, that is just one of the forms of cooperation we can achieve," he noted.

He added that it was very important to turn to renewable energy sources.