Dacic said in an interview with Italian agency Ansa that Italy is the first country with which Serbia has entered into a Strategic Partnership Agreement, with the assessment that both countries take the partnership as a strategic and political and economic point of view.
He emphasised that the economic cooperation between the two countries is constantly increasing, as Italy is traditionally one of the three largest economic partners of Serbia, one of the largest investors in Serbia, while, on the other hand, Italy is traditionally the leading export area for Serbian companies.
Dacic said he hopes to have a joint session of the two governments organised as soon as possible, expressing his hope that this could happen by the end of this year in Belgrade.
According to Dacic, this will be the fourth joint session of the governments of Serbia and Italy, which already speaks volumes about the intensity of our relations and the common need to strengthen the strategic partnership
The First Deputy Prime Minister said that Serbia is grateful to Italy for continuously supporting our country's aspirations for EU membership.
He stressed that Serbia is ready to go much faster for EU membership.
Commenting on the new methodology for EU accession, developed by the new European Commission, he stated that it has positive hints, above all in the fact that Serbia and Montenegro, which are the furthest behind in the process, can choose whether to continue following the current model or will adopt new solutions.
He also said that the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue has been in dead end for more than a year, solely because of Pristina, which hinders unprecedented moves and completely blocks the process.
Dacic recalled that for over a year, non-civilisation taxes of 100% on Central Serbia goods have been in force, adding that Belgrade's position was that Pristina's irrational decision had to be removed in order for the dialogue to continue.
We expect this to be done soon and we are ready to continue the talks immediately, as Serbia is most interested in finding a compromise-based solution and ensuring long-term peace and stability in our region.