Italian parliamentarians: Serbia’s ambition to protect its people in Kosovo is legitimate; the conditions for the formation of the CSM should be met as soon as possible

The head of the delegation of the Italian Parliament to the Parliamentary Dimension of the Central European Initiative (PD CEI), Salvatore Caiata, stated today, in relation to the situation in Kosovo, that Serbia's ambition to protect its people was entirely legitimate, and expressed hope that the conditions for the formation of the CSM would be created in the very near future.

In a conversation with members of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with Italy, Caiata emphasized that peace in the region, which President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic was striving for, had to remain the primary objective.

He also stated that Italy strongly supported Serbia on its European path, and the acceleration of this process was of essential importance. He stressed the necessity of discussing this through parliamentary diplomacy, friendly conversations, and meetings of parliamentarians.

The President of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with Italy, Jovan Palalic, reminded that Serbia's primary foreign policy goal was EU membership, alongside the independent conduct of state policy, with regional peace being a priority, as stated by the Serbian Assembly.

In that context, he discussed the current situation in Kosovo and the difficult position in which the Serbs and other non-Albanians find themselves on that part of Serbian territory.

Palalic emphasized that the main culprit for the crisis in Kosovo was Albin Kurti, who refused to fulfill his obligations under the Brussels Agreement, repressed the Serbs, conducted illegal arrests, and organized illegitimate elections.

On the other hand, he noted that the Serbian side had fulfilled all of its obligations.

He particularly stressed that recognizing Kosovo's independence was by no means acceptable for Serbia.

He also pointed out that the political relations between the two countries were at an exceptionally high and friendly level, particularly reflected through intensive visits at the highest diplomatic level.

Palalic said that the visits by Italian ministers and the meetings between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had contributed to the overall development of cooperation.

He expressed the belief that today's meeting with the Italian delegation would further enhance inter-parliamentary cooperation and emphasized the importance of expanding comprehensive cooperation on a regional level, which would further promote the closeness of the two peoples.

Speaking about economic cooperation, Palalic said the exceptionally high level of Italian investments in Serbia and, in anticipation of the Specialized Exhibition EXPO27, had extended an invitation to Italian companies to present themselves in Belgrade in the largest possible numbers.

Caiata, when discussing economic cooperation, emphasized that investors view Serbia favorably due to its record-breaking GDP and reminded that Italy was Serbia's third-largest foreign trade partner.

He highlighted that there were 1,200 companies operating in Serbia, employing approximately 23,000 workers, and the interest in investing in Serbia among Italian investors remained strong because they were aware of the exceptional economic progress and potential in our country.

Member of Parliament Jadranka Jovanovic, from the perspective of an artist, spoke about the exceptional cultural cooperation between the two countries and addressed the room for improving cooperation in the field of education, student and teacher exchanges, and language learning, as a kind of bridge for connecting the two nations.

The meeting was also attended by Zika Bujuklic, a member of the group, who shared his positive experiences in collaboration with Italy through a series of educational activities and organized student visits that he arranged as a university professor.