First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic met today Thorsten Frei, a Christian Democrat Union MP in the German Bundestag.

Underlining the importance of promoting the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the interlocutors agreed that today's visit of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to Berlin was of great importance to Serbia.

During the talks, the Serbian Foreign Minister informed his interlocutor of the course of Serbian negotiations with the European Union, as well as of our position concerning the opening of individual negotiating chapters.

Frei pointed out that it was important to make good preparations in the negotiating process regarding Serbia's EU membership in order to fulfil and carry out the obligations, and that time could be saved by conducting parallel negotiations on several chapters.

Dacic also referred to the recent parliamentary elections in Kosovo and Metohija, underlining the importance of the establishment of the Community of Serbian Municipalities. He expressed the expectation that the policy of the Government of Serbia, both with regard to its EU negotiations and the process of normalizing the relations with Pristina, would be better understood and supported by German MPs, especially those coming from the Christian Democrat Union, in the future. He also called for the enhancement of parliamentary cooperation and invited Bundestag MPs to visit Serbia more frequently.

Thorsten Frei, who is a member of the Bundestag Committee on Foreign and EU Affairs, as well as of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Working Group for Foreign Policy and one of the Rapporteurs on Serbia, is on his first visit to our country for the purpose of gaining first-hand knowledge of the Serbian Government's commitment to EU membership and normalization of relations with Pristina, of which he will inform his fellow MPs on his return to Berlin.