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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Joksimovic expects additional EU support for Serbia

Belgrade, 24 March 2020

Minister for European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic welcomed messages sent jointly by EP Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman David McAllister, Chair of the Committee on Development Tomas Tobe and Chair of the European Parliament's Budget Committee Foreign and Security Policy representative Johan Van Overtveldt and EC Vice-President Josep Borrell.

Messages were also sent to the responsible commissioners: Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic, Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Oliver Varehelyi and Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen.

The letter said that only with full solidarity and the efforts and all the resources of Europe, members states but also candidates and potential candidates can confront one of the greatest challenges in modern history.

In this regard, Joksimovic expressed her hope that the European Commission will respond with concrete measures to provide additional financial support to both Serbia and others in the Western Balkans, both to combat the pandemic and for the great job of economic and social recovery from the effects of the pandemic.

I particularly welcome and emphasize their call on the European Commission for the need for measures taken by the EU, in particular the procedure for approving exports of medical equipment from the European Union, should not adversely affect the ability of our and other negotiating countries to successfully confront the pandemic, she said.

The Chairmen of the Committee called on the European Commission to inform the European Parliament of the additional financial measures that the European Commission will assist third countries and, above all, adopt measures to strengthen the capacity of these countries' health systems and to overcome the socio-economic consequences.

In support of the activities undertaken by the European Commission to support these countries from IPA funds, EU programs and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the chairs of these committees supported the proposal to use the EU Solidarity Fund in the event of a threat to general public health.

The Minister emphasised that it was particularly important that they pointed out the need for financing such measures should entail additional resources, not just diversion of existing ones, which could slow down the reform and other activities being carried out.