Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pays one-day visit to Serbia. He has been received by President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.
For the first time since taking office, Conte is traveling to the Western Balkans, and the visit to Serbia is his first bilateral visit to a European country since the beginning of the year. A ceremonial welcome for the head of the Italian Government was organized at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport, and in front of the Palace of Serbia.
Following the meeting with President Vucic, the two officials addressed the press. Vucic reiterated Serbia’s readiness to continue Belgrade-Pristina dialogue to reach a compromise solution as soon as Kosovo revokes the 100 percent tariffs it imposed on Serbian goods. Vucic added, Prime Minister Conte told him Italy would be Serbia’s ambassador on its European path and that Pristina should lift the tariffs imposed on the goods from Serbia.
Prime Minister Conte said that Italy wants to support safety, but also economic and social development in Serbia and Balkans. He confirmed Serbia has priority to Italy, adding Serbia is also important for stability and European perspective of the entire region. He noted support to Vucic’s efforts to reach compromise solution with Pristina and expressed hope that compromise would be found.
The last time an Italian prime minister visited Serbia was in 2012. Italy is one of the two largest trading partners of Serbia, with total annual trade exchange exceeding four billion euros – half of this number representing the value of export of Serbia’s goods to Italy.
