WORLD
Serbia-Italy, Meloni: The EU will not be unified until the entry of the Western Balkans is completed
![Serbia-Italy, Meloni: The EU will not be unified until the entry of the Western Balkans is completed](/files/2023/3/1200x630/17016970883081645314_1200x630.jpg)
Baku, December 4, AZERTAC
Europe cannot be said to be united until the Western Balkans have completed their entry: integration is fundamental to guarantee security and economic growth. The Prime Minister said it Giorgia Meloni, in Belgrade, during joint statements with the Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic. “Italy is among the main supporters of the reunification of Europe,” added Meloni.
According to Agencia Nova, Italy and Serbia, especially in recent times, have multiplied bilateral initiatives: we are ready to resume intergovernmental dialogue. This first visit of mine as Prime Minister can help strengthen bilateral relations. It was a visit that had been planned for some time and I thank President Vucic for the extraordinary welcome", added Meloni.
The value "of our exchange can grow: there is already a lot of Italy in Serbia" - underlined the Prime Minister - Belgrade it is the first city in the world where Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Simest and Sace have opened offices: this shows the attention of the Italian business world to investing in this country", added Meloni, according to whom the many challenges dictated by the ongoing crises offer also great opportunities for the development of investments.
“The fight against irregular immigration, as regards the Balkan route, is an objective that Rome and Belgrade share - underlined Meloni - I want to thank Serbia for the efforts it is demonstrating in this direction. We are convinced that our energies must shift to the external dimension, which is a central element for us in the fight against illegal immigration", added Meloni.
Serbia is grateful to Italy for the substantial support shown in the European path undertaken by Belgrade. The Serbian president said it Aleksandar Vucic. We discussed Serbia's European path” and “I am grateful to the Prime Minister for Italy's substantial support,” said Vucic. The head of state expressed particular gratitude to Meloni, "who always wanted to hear our opinion, what Serbia had to say". Prime Minister Meloni, in fact, "represents a leader not only at a European but I would say global level and he is demonstrating it with his openness and enormous talent".
“Serbia and Italy are two friendly countries with excellent political and economic relations. We talked about almost all the important topics for our countries,” Vucic said. Regarding economic and commercial relations, the Serbian president highlighted that trade has reached 4,6 billion euros and hoped that "in the future it can reach a higher level".
The Serbian president hoped that Italy will return to being his country's first economic and commercial partner in the future, linking Italy's return to first place to when "Stellantis will start producing the electric Panda in Kragujevac". “Serbia has excellent relations with various Italian regions and it is very important for us, also for business and innovation collaboration,” said Vucic, recalling the recent visit of the president of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, and mentioning a future visit by that of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana.