First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dacic participated today at the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the “Brdo Process”, held in Slovenia.

The traditional “Brdo Process” brought together the Foreign Ministers of the Western Balkans, along with the Foreign Ministers of France and Italy, EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn and the German Deputy Foreign Minister.

“Discussions centred around several topics important to our region. They embraced EU integration, specific forms of cooperation such as infrastructure connectivity, corridors, youth cooperation, and enhanced coordination in the education area including student exchange and diploma equalization.

The discussions also focused on regional security issues, EU and its neighbourhood, fight against terrorism and irregular migration. The Meeting released a Joint Statement. “The follow-up on the Brdo Process will be the announced meeting of Presidents of Western Balkan countries to be held in Montenegro”, said Minister Dacic after the meeting.

“I took the opportunity to have bilateral talks with my colleagues, as well. The most important was certainly the meeting with French Foreign Minister Fabius, at which we exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, bearing in mind that France is a part of the Normandy format. Our bilateral relations are continually on the rise and I used the opportunity to invite the French President to visit Serbia.

Another important meeting was with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Germany, held on the eve of the visit of Minister Steinmeier to Belgrade, on 28 April. It is important to maintain the rise in our bilateral relations. Germany plays a very significant role in Serbia’s further EU integration process. It is therefore important to discuss together the ways and means of developing mechanisms aimed at accelerating the opening of chapters in the negotiation process. We anticipate very good and useful talks during the visit of Minister Steinmeier to Belgrade. At the same time, there will be an OSCE Troika meeting, with the participation of Swiss Foreign Minister Burkhalter”, stated the Serbian Foreign Minister today