Russian Federation Council chairwoman visits Serbia

Russian Federation Council chairwoman visits Serbia

Gojkovic and Matviyenko inked an agreement on inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Serbian parliament and the Russian Federation Council, and told reporters that the two countries' parliamentary relations are very good and do not lag behind the cooperation on all other levels of government.

Gojkovic said at a joint press conference that the agreement signing is an indicator how much wish and room there is for further promotion of relations that are already good.

Matviyenko said that the talks tabled cooperation between the two parliaments' working bodies, foreign delegations to international organizations, exchange of data and opinion on many internal and foreign issues, and also cooperation between female MPs.

The Russian delegation includes Chairman of the Social Policy Committee of the Federation Council Valery Ryazansky, First Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee Vladimir Dzhabarov, Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee Arsen Kanokov and member of the Food Policy Council Yevgeny Gromyko.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic also received Valentina Matviyenko on Tuesday when they spoke about "friendly bilateral ties and economic cooperation."

Vucic "underscored that Serbia maintains sincere and friendly ties with Russia and is trying to preserve them even in the difficult times," the Serbian government said in a statement.

He added that "efforts should be invested in improvement of relations in all sectors and expressed gratitude for the support of the Russian Federation to Serbia's territorial integrity. Serbia is the pillar of stability in the region, in both political and economic terms,"and that Serbia "is cooperating with Russia in energy and infrastructure, but there is still room for improvement in other fields as well."

Matviyenko "underscored that Russia appreciates Serbia's independent policy," and "emphasized that Serbia is one of Russia's most important political and economic strategic partners."

The agreement on strategic partnership is being successfully implemented, Matviyenko said and added that the bilateral trade improved by eight percent last year but this is not sufficient since there are major economic potentials for further development, especially in the agricultural sector.

Bilateral relations, and OSCE

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic conferred with Chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko "concerning the improvement of the two countries' relations," Tanjug reported, quoting a Serbian MFA statement.

"During the friendly talks, the two high officials rated bilateral relations as high-level and confirmed mutual interest for further development of overall bilateral cooperation and improvement of trade and economic ties between the two countries," the statement said.

The high officials "exchanged opinions on the most important international topics and the ongoing chairmanship of Serbia in OSCE."