We want to meet all recommendations by 2018

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic spoke in Belgrade Thursday with her counterpart from Greece Vangelis Meimarakis about parliamentary cooperation, European integration and economic reforms.

Gojkovic said that relations between the two countries were good and friendly and thanked Meimarakis on Greece's and its parliament's supporting Serbia's European integration, the Serbian parliament said in a release.

She pointed out that Serbia had a strong committment to European integration and its goal was to carry out all the reforms necessary for EU accession by the end of 2018, after which the EU should reach a decision on membership.

Serbia is not conducting reforms just to become part of the EU, but rather to render its economy stable, in the interest of its citizens, she said.

Meimarakis pointed out that the parliament played a vital role in the reforms and EU accession process, because MPs were responsible for explaining to the citizens that the decisions they were making were being made in their best interests.

Speaking about Eurointegration, he stated that integration of the region would reflect positively on stability, adding that it was the duty of all politicians to help new generations in the Balkan region to live in peace.

Meimarakis is in Serbia to attend the ceremony marking the completion of a Twinning project between the Serbian and Hellenic parliaments aimed at improving performance, internal procedures and transparency in the Serbian parliament while the country is on its road to Europe.