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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Regional cooperation first priority of Western Balkan countries

Belgrade/Skopje, 18 May 2022

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today at the Prime Ministers’ Panel at the Macedonia2025 Summit in Skopje that the first priority in these difficult times should be peace and stability and regional cooperation, and that only through cooperation can the Western Balkan countries open space for further growth and prosperity.

Brnabic, who is on a one-day working visit to North Macedonia, said at the panel "Building a Prosperous Future: The Role of Regional Cooperation" that the first priority is regional cooperation and maintaining peace and security, because in these challenging times and crises it is the only way in which countries in the region can make an impact.

If we preserve peace and security then we are opening space for further growth and prosperity, Brnabic underlined.

The Prime Minister emphasised that the second priority is investment in education, science, research and development, and the third - further development of digitalisation.

She pointed out that in this way we can compensate for the time we lost since the 1990s and the years since the beginning of this century, and thus ensure dynamic growth.

Brnabic recalled that Serbia implemented unpopular measures of fiscal consolidation in 2014, which were introduced by the then Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and underlined that this is why the Serbian economy went through the coronavirus crisis without major problems.

The Prime Minister said that this year, too, Serbia had a GDP growth of 4.3 percent in the first quarter.

The Prime Minister announced in Skopje that the next meeting within the "Open Balkans" initiative will be held in Ohrid on 7-8 June and that an information system for obtaining a unique ID number for joint work permits will be presented there.

Before participating in the summit, the Prime Minister of Serbia was given an official welcome in front of the Government of North Macedonia, followed by a meeting of two delegations led by the Prime Minister of Serbia and Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski.

In a statement to the press, Brnabic said that even in these times of crisis in the world and in Europe, Serbia will continue to be a reliable partner for North Macedonia, on which it can count the most.

According to her, Serbia showed that during the coronavirus crisis too and noted that North Macedonia is one of the closest and best political and economic partners of our country.

Serbia provides full and sincere support to the European integration of North Macedonia and advocates everywhere the acceleration of European integration of North Macedonia and Albania.

She added that the two countries finally reached the amount of €1.1 billion in mutual trade in 2021, pointing out that Serbia is the third most important partner of North Macedonia, and that country is among the top ten most important partners for us.

Serbia's exports to North Macedonia last year stood at €815 million, Brnabic concluded.