First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic met today with Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ms Ekaterina Zakharieva, who is visiting the Republic of Serbia on an opening leg of her Western Balkans regional tour, in the context of the preparations for Bulgaria's Presidency of the Council of the European Union in January 2018.

In the talks, both sides expressed satisfaction over the good bilateral relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as readiness to promote them further, primarily in the fields of economy, energy, infrastructure and tourism. In this context, they underlined further increase in foreign trade between the two countries, the completion of the eastern arm of Corridor 10, as well as the Serbia-Bulgaria gas interconnector construction project. The officials also discussed issues of interest to the Bulgarian national minority in Serbia.

Minister Dacic expressed his gratitude to Bulgaria for its commitment to the continuation of the European Union's enlargement policy, which was also a priority of its Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria emphasized the readiness of the Bulgarian side to share with Serbia its experience gained during the accession talks with the European Union and offered professional assistance with negotiating chapters, namely Chapters 23 and 24 in particular.

The interlocutors agreed to resolve any potential problems in direct dialogue, and not with Brussels's mediation. Furthermore, both sides expressed readiness to help economic empowerment of the less developed areas in the border zone by joint engagement and projects. To this end, they discussed organizing a business forum in Nis to bring Bulgarian and Serbian entrepreneurs together.