"Serbia-Armenia ties need to be strengthened"

"Serbia-Armenia ties need to be strengthened"

"We are happy to be in friendly Armenia. Here we feel like on a visit to relatives. The friendship between Serbia and Armenia spans over many years, and on these foundations, we will build our future cooperation," Mrkić said after the talks.

At a joint press conference on Monday, Nalbandian noted that the current scope of cooperation is not reflecting the real potentials of both Serbia and Armenia, which is also illustrated by the fact that they have so far signed only five agreements, and today another one has been signed - an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation.

Asked by a Tanjug reporter as to which fields offer the greatest prospects for economic cooperation, Nalbandian mentioned tourism, industry, banking sector and finance.

A Serbian-Armenian business forum will be held in Yerevan tomorrow. All issues relating to economic cooperation will be considered in detail. A strong team of businesspeople will be present. Tomorrow, we will open up new perspectives, he underscored.

The meeting of ministers was an opportunity to consider other issues too, such as the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue on the normalization of relations, and the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian enclave in the territory of Azerbaijan.

Serbia backs the stands of the OSCE from Madrid when it comes to Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the positions that Russia, France and the Unites States presented with regard to that, Mrkić said, underlining that Serbia was grateful for Armenia's decision not to recognize Kosovo. The territory was unilaterally declared as independent by ethnic Albanians in this southern Serbian province in early 2008.

"We are negotiating with the administration in an effort to normalize relations and ensure proper living conditions for all citizens in Kosovo, but there is no mention of the recognition of Kosovo," Mrkić told reporters.

He noted that last year an agreement on the normalization of relations was reached in Brussels, and that the negotiating process is under way which should allow for pacification of the region and introduction of rules that will enable cooperation with Priština.

"A community of Serb municipalities will contribute to further stabilization. We want cooperation with Priština, but Belgrade primarily has in mind the stay of Serbs in Kosovo," Mrkić said.

Asked about the forthcoming Serbia's chairmanship of the OSCE, Mrkić underscored that this is the co-chairmanship with Switzerland and that Serbia, when it assumes the chairmanship next year, will further Swiss efforts.