Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Nikola Selakovic started his official visit to Spain with meetings at the Congress of Deputies, where he met with President of the Congress Meritxell Batet, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Pau Marí-Klose and Chair of the Joint Committee for the EU Susana Sumelzo Jordán.

Minister Selakovic stated that the bilateral relations between Serbia and Spain were excellent and friendly, without open issues, and that they were characterized by mutual support on issues of vital national interest for both countries.

Selakovic pointed out that the bilateral political cooperation was significantly better than the economic one, and that Serbia wished to intensify economic relations with Spain, given that there was significant room and potential for that.

In the talks with Spanish parliamentarians, Minister Selakovic called on Spanish investors to strengthen their presence on the Serbian market, emphasizing that our country was the leader in the region in attracting foreign direct investments.

The Serbian Foreign Minister emphasized that full membership of the EU was a strategic foreign policy goal of Serbia, and that we were grateful to Spain for its support in the European integration process.

The Minister pointed out that Serbia highly valued the principled position of Spain and its support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country, as well as in the framework of international organizations.

Selakovic told his interlocutors in the Congress of Deputies that Belgrade was committed to the dialogue with Pristina and to the peaceful resolution of the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, stressing that Pristina for full eight years failed to fulfill its only obligation - to form the Community of Serb Municipalities.

According to the Minister, it was of key interest for Serbia to preserve stability in the region and the orientation of the region towards more intensive cooperation, and with that goal the "mini-Schengen" initiative had been launched, opening up room for regional development and relaxation of economic as well as political relations in the Western Balkans.

Selakovic informed his interlocutors that Serbia strived to further intensify parliamentary cooperation with Spain, assessing that there was room for that, taking into account the high level of political understanding existing between the two states.

Expressing pleasure at the fact that the Friendship Group with Spain was formed in the National Assembly of Serbia, which had 89 members, Minister Selakovic stated that this was a significant encouragement to both parliamentary and overall bilateral cooperation, which is why we hoped that a Friendship Group with Serbia would be formed in the Spanish Parliament as well.