The Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, Ambassador Sem Fabrizi, Ambassadors of the Member States accredited to Serbia and representatives of the Serbian Government discussed today the joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the European integration process and other topics.
The Serbian side was leas by President Aleksandar Vucic, and was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, Health Ministers Zlatibor Loncar, Finance Sinisa Mali and European Integration Minister Jadranka Joksimovic.
Ambassador Fabrizi thanked the meeting participants. The Serbian health system has shown endurance in a pandemic, and previous investments have been of great help in this, he said.
“Serbia has shown that it has a health system that can withstand such attacks and has passed this test. But, all this is preceded by a large amount of work that we have done previously with the authorities in Serbia. All the investments made by the EU in previous years into Serbian health have played an important role in the country’s response to the pandemic. Congratulations to the doctors, the cops, the salesmen, and everyone who has made sure the system works, ”says Ambassador Fabrizi.
He also states that the activity of all mechanisms towards Serbia has been intensified, which is also evident in the joint agreement on the procurement of medical supplies according to which Serbia is equal with the EU member states.
“The times are difficult, but if we take into account the facts, we are still with Serbia. That is why the European Commission gave a global response of 16 billion, with 700 million euros being earmarked for the Western Balkans and a big part going to Serbia. Solidarity is in the DNA of the EU. We function in this way and we are very pleased that we were able to respond immediately, as soon as the crisis arose and as soon as the authorities made a request and asked for help. We reacted immediately and worked with Minister Joksimovic to collect it, ”concludes Ambassador Fabrizi.
President Vucic states that Serbia is grateful to anyone who helps it in the ongoing crisis, citing concrete examples of which the EU has supported efforts to combat coronaviruses.
“Serbia is extremely grateful to the European Union for the financial assistance and every other kind of solidarity that the European Union has shown towards our country, not only in the previous period since we have been fighting COVID-19 or coronavirus together,” says President Vucic.
One of the topic of the talks was the European future of Serbia. Serbia will continue its European path in a transparent manner, said President Vucic, who assessed the talks as good, open and long. He stressed that the EU is an important economic partner for Serbia and thanked for the assistance it has given to Serbia in the fight against coronavirus.
“I would like to reiterate the unequivocal position of Serbia, which is that we are on a European path, that we want to regulate our country according to European rules and regulations, as we have the largest economic exchange with the countries of the European Union,” says President Vucic.
