Chiti: Italy interested in stronger economic ties

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic on Monday received a delegation of the Italian Senate, headed by Vannino Chiti, chairman of the committee on EU policy, who said that bilateral relations between the two countries are very good and that Italy is interested in even stronger economic ties.

Gojkovic thanked Italy and its Senate for their strong and continued support of Serbia's European integration, the Serbian parliament said in a statement.

The Serbian parliament speaker thanked the Italian Senate for adopting a resolution urging the EU to open negotiation chapters in the talks with Serbia, while also calling on the Italian government to invest efforts to ensure that the accession process is backed by all EU institutions.

All political forces in Italy are united in their support of Serbia's European path, as demonstrated by the adoption of the resolution on opening negotiation chapters with Serbia, Chiti said.

The bilateral relations between Serbia and Italy are very good, and, aside from development of political and cultural ties, Italy is also interested in even stronger economic relations, he said.

Gojkovic and Chiti discussed more concrete and more intense cooperation at parliamentary level - the Italian senator proposed that the two parliamentary committees on EU affairs meet periodically, and the Serbian parliament speaker backed the proposal.

Photo Tanjug Video, camera operator Zoran Milenkovic