Serbia plays a key role: Merkel welcomed Vucic

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic arrived in Berlin to talk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Vucic and Merkel addressed the media before the meeting.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel pointed out that the Western Balkans is high on the agenda of the Bulgarian EU Presidency, and that the topic of today's meeting is the cooperation between Germany and Serbia, but also relations in the region.

She pointed out that EC President Jean-Claude Juncker, who was a guest of the closed session of the federal government, spoke about the importance of the Western Balkans in Berlin.

- Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative, leads very important talks, where Serbia plays a key role for both Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it is very important that we have close cooperation - Merkel said.

She added that this is always linked to talks about the course of reforms that Serbia bravely implements and that it is a compliment to the prime minister.

- I'm looking forward to today's meeting. We want to contribute to finding a solution, no matter how hard it may be - Merkel said.

At the beginning of his address, Vucic thanked Angela Merkel for her interest in Serbia.

- If it hadn't been for German attention, we would have a lot more crises - Vucic added, saying that we listen to opinions of Chancellor Merkel with the greatest attention.

The President of the Republic pointed out that Serbia is committed to peace and stability, any kind of conflict in the Balkans would bring all nations back 100 years back.

- We will do our best to avoid tensions, conflicts or destabilization of the region at all costs - Vucic said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Vucic said that Serbia's European path is vital to Serbia and that we will have to make a number of difficult decisions if it wants to become part of the EU.

- Whether it will be in 2025 or not, it depends to a large extent on us, and whether we will be able to implement the reforms, as well as some other things in the region - said Vucic.

He thanked Angela Merkel for her interest in Serbia and the Western Balkans as a whole and assessed that there would be more crises in the region if it wasn't for her attention.

- We have a lot of progress in bilateral relations. Germany and Serbia each year have a growing trade exchange. Last year it was 4.3 billion euros. In the first two months, it is higher by 12.6 percent and we expect it to reach five billion euros, perhaps even by the end of this year - Vucic said.

The president of Serbia emphasized: Germany is our most important partner, we have the largest economic exchange with them and it is the most important country for us in the EU.

(Telegraf.co.uk)