"It will not be easy for those who are not part of the Open Balkans Initiative"

"It will not be easy for those who are not part of the Open Balkans Initiative"

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, speaks from Verona, where he discussed all current topics, after today's meeting with the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni.

He said that the meeting with Giorgia Meloni was fundamentally good and that he expects her before the end of the year in Belgrade.

"Italy sees Serbia as a reliable and stable, small but important ally and friend in the Balkans, territorially and in terms of population," Vučić pointed out.

"We used to have a problem with unemployment, and now we need to hire workers from the outside," he said.

"It will not be easy for those who are not in the Open Balkans, while there will be more and more favorable conditions within it. People will no longer have to wait in lines when they go to Greece and vice versa - when they go to Belgrade," he said.

He informed that there are fewer and fewer poor people in Serbia and that the average salary amounts to approximately 740-750 euros. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was also present at the meeting.

Vučić and Meloni met at the International Wine Fair, VinItaly, held in Verona. Ahead of this meeting, the two spoke on the phone on Sunday. Vučić visited the common stand of the Open Balkans, where he talked with the exhibitors and attended the presentation of the Open Balkans offer. After the meeting, the President of Serbia posted on his Instagram profile:

"It is a privilege and an honor for me to visit VinItaly with Giorgia Meloni and Edi Rama. Serbia and the Balkan region can be proud of their wine industry, and that is why it is very important that our wines are presented today at one of the largest wine fairs in Europe. We are grateful to Italy in support of our country's European path, we continue to strengthen our cooperation in many areas and we look forward to returning the hospitality of Prime Minister Meloni and her team in Belgrade," announced Vučić.