The importance of Italy’s support for Serbia from a political, economic and technological standpoint, was one of the things Serbian President Boris Tadic underscored in an interview with ANSA, in which he thanked Italy and Minister for Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini for the active and constant support for Serbia’s European integration.
Ahead of the Italo-Serbian summit planned for 13 November next in Rome, Tadic spoke of “strategic cooperation” with Italy and of the importance that further reinforcing collaboration with FIAT could have for Serbia’s technological development. “It believe that the upcoming summit will be the first high level summit between Italy and a Balkan country, and we Serbs are proud of that because Italy is a very important country and our close neighbour”, Tadic said. The Rome summit, he added, would be “an opportunity to open a dialogue with the Italian government on strategic cooperation in areas such as communications, machinery, energy and collaboration between regions: in all these areas Italy and Serbia have a remarkable potential for collaboration and for this precise reason we consider this bilateral summit extremely important”.
“I would like to thank Minister Frattini in particular and the Italian government and State, for this exceptional support for Serbia’s European integration”, President Tadic stressed, who expressed the hope that the Italian parliament would be among the first to ratify the Association and Stabilisation Accord (ASA) after its suspension.
Tadic also noted Minister Frattini’s major role—also in the past as a European commissioner—in the EU’s decision to abolish the visa obligation for Serbian citizens travelling to European Union countries starting in January.
Referring to the presence of the FIAT company in Serbia, Tadic underscored how prospective new investments by the Turin auto manufacturer would positively impact on technological development in Serbia. “We are closely following the work of FIAT President Sergio Marchionne and his team on FIAT’s technological development”, the president said, who will also be going to Turin in the margins of the upcoming summit, where the new model to be produced in Serbia’s Kragujevac plant—from which the “Punto” now comes—is to be announced.
“Italy is important also for its experience and the success of those small and medium sized enterprises”, Tadic asserted, “that have ensured the development and wealth of your country”, adding that “Italy and Serbia are very close, and the Serbian people love Italy”.