Serbian president, Croat, Slovenian PMs meet

Serbian President Boris Tadic and Croat and Slovenian PMs Jadranka Kosor and Borut Pahor say the three countries would jointly participate in third markets. According to a joint statement adopted at the trilateral meeting held in the central Serbian town of Smederevo on Friday, the cooperation refers to projects and sectors where the economic units from Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia will have the opportunity to combine their capacities. Serbian president, Croat, Slovenian PMs meet The opportunities for the cooperation were found primarily in the construction sector, defense and security industries, automotive, wood processing and food industries, as well as in the fields of transportation and communications. The communication should be carried out through co-chaired activities of the three countries' commission for economic cooperation and a working group for cooperation on third markets that will be established in the future. The collaboration will include exchange of business and economic information of common interest and establishment of an ad-hoc consortium, the organization of joint representation in third markets, as well as the cooperation between diplomatic missions to promote joint projects abroad. Given the common interests and experiences of our countries, they have a common interest to promote cooperation of economic entities, business associations and agencies in charge of economic cooperation abroad, when it comes to their joint presentation and the activities on the third markets, the statement says. This joint statement provides the political framework for the cooperation, the document reads. Kosor, Tadic and Pahor in Smederevo (Beta) Second meeting The talks held in Smederevo today were the officials' second trilateral meeting. The first meeting was held in Slovenia's city of Ptuj in March 2010, when Tadic, Kosor and Pahor discussed the strengthening of interstate cooperation and sharing experience in overcoming the economic crisis. They also agreed to establish a permanent “personal trilateral formation” which would enable an efficient resolving of issues of common significance. According to Regionalism Center Director Aleksandar Popov, the trilateral meeting is interesting because it involves three countries on different levels of cooperation with the EU. “We have Slovenia which is a fully fledged member, we have Croatia which is a step from the membership and us who are yet to get the candidate status. I think that such meetings are useful because we have Slovenia which is on our side when it comes to Serbia’s EU accession. This can also facilitate certain incidents that happen occasionally, like recent arrest of war crime suspects,” he pointed out. Popov also added that such meetings were useful and that he believed that both Croatia and Serbia expected Slovenia’s support on their EU integration path. After the meeting with Tadic and Pahor, the Croatian prime minister will meet with her Serbian counterpart Mirko Cvetkovic. Ahead of today's talks, Zagreb-based daily Vijesnik said the prime ministers of Serbia and Croatia will discuss open issues and formation of a mechanism for processing of war crimes which would prevent cases such as the one with Tihomir Purda. The agenda of the Kosor-Cvetkovic meeting will also include the issue of missing persons and an initiative for a donors conference, which was discussed during Tadic's official visit to Zagreb in November 2010, the daily added. The topics will also comprise the issues of border and succession, as well as the willingness of both sides to concretize the agreements which would lead to progress, Vijesnik reported. The Croatian government said Thursday that Kosor will also meet representatives of the Croat minority in Serbia in the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade. In the meantime, representatives of 100 refugee associations and homeland clubs of the Serbs from Croatia will hand a petition to Croat Ambassador in Belgrade Zeljko Kupresak, requesting their tenancy, property and other acquired rights. They will also hand over letters for Croat President Ivo Josipovic and Kosor.

Serbian president, Croat, Slovenian PMs meet

The opportunities for the cooperation were found primarily in the construction sector, defense and security industries, automotive, wood processing and food industries, as well as in the fields of transportation and communications.

The communication should be carried out through co-chaired activities of the three countries' commission for economic cooperation and a working group for cooperation on third markets that will be established in the future.

The collaboration will include exchange of business and economic information of common interest and establishment of an ad-hoc consortium, the organization of joint representation in third markets, as well as the cooperation between diplomatic missions to promote joint projects abroad.

Given the common interests and experiences of our countries, they have a common interest to promote cooperation of economic entities, business associations and agencies in charge of economic cooperation abroad, when it comes to their joint presentation and the activities on the third markets, the statement says.

This joint statement provides the political framework for the cooperation, the document reads.

Second meeting

The talks held in Smederevo today were the officials' second trilateral meeting.

The first meeting was held in Slovenia's city of Ptuj in March 2010, when Tadić, Kosor and Pahor discussed the strengthening of interstate cooperation and sharing experience in overcoming the economic crisis. They also agreed to establish a permanent “personal trilateral formation” which would enable an efficient resolving of issues of common significance.

According to Regionalism Center Director Aleksandar Popov, the trilateral meeting is interesting because it involves three countries on different levels of cooperation with the EU.

“We have Slovenia which is a fully fledged member, we have Croatia which is a step from the membership and us who are yet to get the candidate status. I think that such meetings are useful because we have Slovenia which is on our side when it comes to Serbia’s EU accession. This can also facilitate certain incidents that happen occasionally, like recent arrest of war crime suspects,” he pointed out.

Popov also added that such meetings were useful and that he believed that both Croatia and Serbia expected Slovenia’s support on their EU integration path.

After the meeting with Tadić and Pahor, the Croatian prime minister will meet with her Serbian counterpart Mirko Cvetković.

Ahead of today's talks, Zagreb-based daily Vijesnik said the prime ministers of Serbia and Croatia will discuss open issues and formation of a mechanism for processing of war crimes which would prevent cases such as the one with Tihomir Purda.

The agenda of the Kosor-Cvetković meeting will also include the issue of missing persons and an initiative for a donors conference, which was discussed during Tadić's official visit to Zagreb in November 2010, the daily added.

The topics will also comprise the issues of border and succession, as well as the willingness of both sides to concretize the agreements which would lead to progress, Vijesnik reported.

The Croatian government said Thursday that Kosor will also meet representatives of the Croat minority in Serbia in the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade.

In the meantime, representatives of 100 refugee associations and homeland clubs of the Serbs from Croatia will hand a petition to Croat Ambassador in Belgrade Željko Kuprešak, requesting their tenancy, property and other acquired rights.

They will also hand over letters for Croat President Ivo Josipović and Kosor.