Pedro Sánchez is already in the Western Balkans. After finishing his press conference to balance the political course in Moncloa, he headed for Belgrade, where he landed in the Spanish Air Force Airbus shortly before six in the afternoon. The Serbian capital was the first stop on the Prime Minister’s tour of the region, which takes him through five countries and ends on Monday in Tirana. The guiding thread of the trip is the same: reinforcement of bilateral and economic relations with Serbian, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegrin, North Macedonia Y Albanian and, above all, support for your process of accession to the European Union.
The socialist leader was received at the Serbian presidential palace by the country’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, with whom he held a working meeting prior to a meeting between the two delegations. Later, both appeared before the media, without questions. “We must continue to support the EU accession process. You are part of Europe. You are part of our community. you will always find a ally for integration into the EU. I think now is the time, that it is time to speed up reforms and to commit definitively to the European Union and what it represents,” Sánchez stressed, in a message that the rest of the region’s leaders will hear, as Moncloa had planned. Until now, Serbia and Montenegro were the most advanced in the entry process into the community club, while Bosnia and Herzegovina no longer even enjoys candidate status.
For Sánchez, it is a “very hopeful step” that negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania have started after the Bulgarian veto was lifted
Sánchez celebrated that just over a week ago, and after Bulgaria lifted its veto, negotiations began between Brussels and Albania and North Macedoniaa “very hopeful step“. The president insisted before Vučić that “if the Balkan countries, as Serbia, a candidate since 2012, is doing, continue to carry out their reforms with determination, do not doubt that Spain will always be by your side”. And he trusts in that their accession process culminates “as soon as possible” and they become “by their own merits” in “full-right” members of the EU. The Executive hopes that the Spanish presidency of the EU, in the second semester of the EU, serve as an impetus for the entry of the Balkan countries into the bloc.
Both Sánchez and Vučić they praised each other. “Serbian sees Spain as a sincere friend“, “the greatest friend in the world”, completed the Serbian president, who thanked the socialist leader again and again for the visit, in return for the trip he made to Madrid on February 23, one day before the war broke out in Ukraine. A Spanish president had never set foot in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania on an official visit, hence the relevance of this tour. For Belgrade, it is also key that Spain is one of the five EU countries (along with Greece, Slovakia, Romania and Cyprus) that does not recognize Kosovo, which became unilaterally independent from Serbia in 2008.
Sánchez affirms that Spain fully supports Serbia regarding Kosovo https://t.co/KML1D3fe5Q pic.twitter.com/qgFoGFtZIK
– Europe Press TV (@europapress_tv) July 29, 2022
the ukrainian war
“We are united by the conviction of the need to guarantee international law and the sovereign integrity of States. We support Serbia in everything that has to do with Kosovo“, stressed the head of the Executive. The Government supports the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, but without implying a change in the historical position of Madrid in this conflict. Madrid and Belgrade do maintain differences regarding the war in Ukraine. Serbia, although he did condemn the invasion at the UN, does not support sanctions on Russiaalthough the two leaders do believe that the best thing would be for the dispute to end as soon as possible.
The two countries, with “excellent” relations, want to intensify their commercial ties, and a business summit will be held in Belgrade soon
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The two countries thus maintain “excellent” political relations, and now want to intensify trade ties. Vučić recalled that Serbia has just bought from Spain two C-295 military transport aircraftand the next step is holding a business summit in the capital of the Balkan country and work to sign an agreement that develops the “potentiality” of relations. The Serbian president pointed out that there are different projects, in infrastructure or energy, in which Spanish companies are interested. Vučić He also asked Sánchez to convey to Felipe VI his invitation to visit his country, which he already met in 2004 when he was still a Prince and traveled to inaugurate the Cervantes headquarters.
The two leaders later dined together. Sánchez continues his schedule in Serbia this Saturday, but at mid-morning he will travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina to stop in Sarajevo and Mostar.