Sweden attaches great strategic importance to Serbian EU membership, because it is the key country in this part of Europe, said today Ambassador of Sweden to Serbia Christer Asp during his meeting with students, on the occasion of Open Doors day.

Clear European perspective contributes to the development of society and stability in the region, he said.

It is important to show the work of EU Member States’ embassies in Serbia, he said and explained that strengthening of bilateral relations was a priority to his Embassy, but that it also strived to show how the EU and Serbia might work together in the future.

All of our activities reflect EU values, he said and added that democracy and human rights were exactly the values that reflected fellowship in the Union.

If you want to move the accession process forward, you have to be ready to change your society and work as fast as you can – this will increase the pace of negotiations, he said.

According to him, the EU is the most efficient peace project that has ever been implemented.

Serbia will remain important player in the Western Balkans, but as a part of the peace project, it will receive our values regarding society and economy. The EU benefits in this process as well, and that is equally important, Asp said.

Ambassador reminded that Sweden’s bilateral contribution to Serbia was ranked third, following Germany and USA, adding that in the period 2014-2020, it would provide some EUR1.6 billion for various projects that would support Serbian reforms.

Sweden attaches great importance to bilateral relations with Serbia, Ambassador said and reminded that his country had had excellent relations with former Yugoslavia as well, inviting many people to help in building Swedish economy.

Those Swedish Serbs or Serbian Swedes are important because they bring your culture to Sweden and vice versa, Ambassador said.

He said that all large Swedish companies, among around 80 that were present in Serbia, were doing business there and added that there was a positive trend in trade and investment because business people believe Serbia would become a part of European Union and its market, all of which made Serbia interesting to do business in.

We know this from the experience of every candidate country, Asp said.

More about the event:

Under the motto “Europe Open” on the occasion of Europe Day, European Union Delegation and EU Info Centre, in cooperation with EU Member States’ embassies, organise events over the course of May and June. During events, embassies open their doors to citizens, with each embassy organising differently-themed event.

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