Merkel wraps up her visit to Belgrade, hosts satisfied

Merkel wraps up her visit to Belgrade, hosts satisfied

"We are very satisfied with the results of Chancellor Merkel's visit, her appraisal of the reforms we are implementing, and her support to our European path," Vucic posted on his Twitter account.

The German chancellor arrived in Belgrade at 7 p.m. on Wednesday from Tirana. Today, she completes her tour of the region by visiting Sarajevo.

While in Serbia, Merkel talked with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, President Tomislav Nikolic and had a working breakfast with representatives of the civil society.

Merkel said that Serbia can count on Berlin's support, and underscored that the willingness for compromise demonstrated by the Serbian side will be taken into consideration when opening the first negotiation chapters, so it was "only a matter of time when they will be opened."

The chancellor commended the reforms that the Serbian government is conducting, voicing her belief they would yield a result. After their meeting last night, Merkel and Vucic had dinner in the Bokeljka Villa. Vucic told the daily Blic afterwards that he was "proud that the German chancellor knew how to respect economic reforms that Serbia has carried out, that open up doors to our country in the world, and that only us Serbs don't know how to respect."

The paper said that the dinner lasted an hour longer than planned, "which is pretty unusual for the chancellor who always sticks to her schedule," and quoted Vucic as saying:

"That is an honor for Serbia, but also satisfying for me personally, that is, a confirmation that I have worked diligently and dedicatedly - and let them still laugh at me in Serbia and say I don't know what I'm doing."

Vucic also presented Merkel with a gift - a book about Serbian-American engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla, "one from a limited edition that cannot be bought in bookstores."