Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Athens Dusan Spasojevic met today with Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras. The meeting immediately preceded the first official visit of Prime Minister Tsipras to the Republic of Serbia.

In open and cordial talks, Ambassador Spasojevic assessed that this period marked the beginning of even more intensive relations between the two traditionally friendly countries, recalling that 150th anniversary of the Alliance would be observed this year. He pointed out that the visit of Prime Minister Tsipras was expected to commence a profound dialogue at all levels, both bilaterally and in the context of Serbia's European path. The Ambassador expressed his gratitude for the continuous support extended by Greece to Serbia's efforts to join the EU membership as soon as possible, and for its principled support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia, as well as for the refusal of Greece to recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija, as one of the issues of key importance to Serbia.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressed expectations that the upcoming visit to Belgrade would not only bring an intensive political dialogue, but also give a fresh impetus to the already well-developed economic cooperation between the two countries. The Prime Minister assessed that this area provided vast additional possibilities for cooperation between the economies of Serbia and Greece. Accordingly, a Serbian - Greek Business Forum will be organized in Belgrade, during the visit on 31 January 2017, and attended by the two Prime Ministers and a large number of businessmen from both countries.