Serbia grateful to Algeria for assistance, stance on Kosovo

Serbia grateful to Algeria for assistance, stance on Kosovo

Welcoming a high-ranking Algerian parliamentary delegation visiting Serbia on Monday, Nikolić said that he is proud of the fact that Yugoslavia was the first European country to recognise the independence of Algeria.

"My task is to take our friendship to the same level that it was on twenty years ago," a statement from the presidential press office quoted Nikolić as saying.

Nikolić said that the loyalty to Serbia was demonstrated during the catastrophic floods last spring, through aid in pumps and power generators, and now through USD 500,000 worth of assistance for regulating rivers.

Bilateral cooperation is built on several levels and interparliamentary cooperation, as a cradle of the two countries' future leaders - has a significant role in it, the president noted.

Algeria is loyal to the friendship with Serbia, which dates back to the era of the Non-Aligned Movement, Mohamed Larbi Ould Khelifa said.

Both countries have gone through very difficult periods of transition, but their friendship has remained unaffected, the Algerian official said, adding that bilateral relations were intensified significantly in 2007.

He noted that Algeria will not change its principled position on non-recognition of Kosovo.

Secessionism is a global problem and resolving it through discussion and in a peaceful manner is the best approach, Khelifa said.

In his meeting with his Serbian counterpart Maja Gojković, he reiterated that Algeria believes that the Kosovo issue should be resolved within a negotiating process.

As for the Kosovo issue, the position of Algeria is clear and we believe that everything should be resolved in negotiations, Khelifa said at the Serbian Assembly.

He underlined that the two countries' cooperation is already good in a number of fields, and that this trend should be continued.

Both Serbia and Algeria have gone through periods of changes and transitions, which were equally painful, but now it is time to turn to future and cooperation which is already developed in numerous fields, Khelifa said.

He underlined that Algeria and Serbia have traditionally good relations, noting that this year marks the 51st anniversary since the establishment of ties between Algeria and former Yugoslavia, which had a great impact on the history of Algeria.

Gojković underlined that this is a historic visit since it is the first time that the Algerian parliament speaker is paying a visit to Serbia and also the first visit by an Algerian official to Serbia in 37 years.

This is an important visit to Serbia, not only with a view to developing interparliamentary cooperation, but also the two countries' cooperation in political, economic and other fields, Gojković said,

The Serbian parliament speaker said that she conferred with her Algerian counterpart on the two countries' future parliamentary cooperation.

The direction of development of these relations will be defined after the talks between the Algerian parliament speaker and members of the Serbian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, the Security Services Control Committee and the Women's Parliamentary Network.

She thanked the Algerian parliament speaker on support that his country offered to Serbia during the May flooding.

Gojković also thanked Algeria for the friendly and principles policy towards Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija, stressing that Algeria has thereby proved its traditional friendship and understanding of the political situation in Serbia.