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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Support by Norway in finding a compromise solution for future status of Kosovo

Oslo/Belgrade, 24 August 2007

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic conveyed today to Oslo that Belgrade is ready to participate constructively in the new round of negotiations on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija and voiced hope that they will result in a compromise solution acceptable to both sides.

In a statement to the news agency Tanjug at the conclusion of his visit to Norway, Jeremic said that agreement was reached in talks with Norwegian officials regarding the crucial role of the UN Security Council in finding a solution based on compromise for the status of the southern Serbian province.

He said that Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre stated that Oslo supports the process which could lead to an acceptable solution for Kosovo–Metohija.

The Minister said that the main subject of discussion was to intensify the traditionally friendly relations between Norway and Serbia, especially in the fields of economy and security.

Jeremic also met with Norwegian Minister of Defence Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, and representatives of the foreign policy committee of the Norwegian parliament and head of the company Telenor.

He said that as a result of the positive experiences of the two countries thus far in the economic sphere, a conference will be held in Oslo in October titled “Invest in Serbia”, at which Serbian companies will participate, while the Serbian government will be represented at the conference at ministerial level.

According to Jeremic, in today’s talks great attention was paid to military and security cooperation, since Norway has very actively cooperated in process of modernising the Serbian Army and reforms in the defence system from 2003.

Norway provided several donations for a large number of reform programmes, including the requalification of high ranking army personnel and education of Serbian army officers. It was agreed that the programme of training for Serbian army doctors will be continued, said Jeremic.

We also discussed the possibility of joint action in UN peace operations and closer cooperation within the Partnership for Peace programme, said Jeremic.

He said that Norway strongly supports Serbia’s integration into Europe and in that context projects of cooperation in strategic communications with the EU were discussed.

Norway has intensively cooperated with the Serbian government’s EU Integration Office, and today we reached agreement on beginning cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which would be directed towards designing new communication strategies regarding the EU, said Jeremic.

He explained that these are efforts to lobby for our interests in the EU, in which Norway could help with valuable experience, considering that fact that it is not an EU member country and lobbies for its interests in Brussels.