Vucic: I thanked Okamura for understanding the situation in Kosovo and Metohija and for his friendly stance toward the Serbian people

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, met today in Belgrade with the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Tomio Okamura, with whom he discussed possibilities for further development of overall bilateral relations and for deepening parliamentary cooperation.

Vucic stated on Instagram that he spoke with Okamura about all issues of interest to both countries.

“During the meeting, I also showed the esteemed interlocutor Belgrade Waterfront, as one of the most important development projects that has changed the appearance of the capital and become a symbol of Serbia’s accelerated modernization,” the President of Serbia added.

He noted that they concluded that economic cooperation between the two countries has developed dynamically in recent years, with an increase in trade in goods and services and a growing inflow of Czech investments.

“We will continue to improve cooperation in all areas of mutual interest, primarily in the fields of energy and mining, transport and infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, and the automotive industry,” Vucic emphasized.

He said that he exchanged views with Okamura on Serbia’s European path and expressed gratitude for the continuous support that the Czech Republic provides to Serbia, both bilaterally and within European frameworks that recognize the importance of enlargement and the stability of the Western Balkans.

“I expressed special gratitude to Okamura for understanding the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as for the friendly stance he has shown toward the Serbian people,” Vucic said.

The President of Serbia also added that he welcomes the fact that the Czech Republic has confirmed its participation in the Expo 2027.

“We see this as another confirmation of the friendship between our countries and a shared commitment to strengthening economic, innovation, and cultural ties,” the President of Serbia added.

Okamura also met today with the President of the National Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, Euronews Serbia reports.

“It has been confirmed that we have friends in Serbia, and we confirmed that we share similar views. We exchanged opinions on European integration, and I said that we support Serbia’s full integration into Europe and into European structures. I also expressed my opinion, which is that Serbia’s European integration, that is, its accession to the European Union, would certainly be interesting from the perspective that it would strengthen the voice of states that pursue a sovereign policy based on their own interests, on a policy of all directions,” Okamura said after the meeting with Brnabic.

He described the meeting with Brnabic as excellent.

“I told the Speaker of the National Assembly that we see Serbia as one of our closest partners, one of the closest nations, with which we must and want to cooperate at the European level as well,” Okamura added.

He pointed out that Serbia has the support of the Czech Government regarding accession to the EU.

“We exchanged views on Ukraine, but from the perspective of EU accession, because Serbia is interested in European integration, but there are some views that Ukraine should have more favorable, that is, looser conditions, and it can be said that this is to the detriment of the Western Balkan countries. This is unacceptable to us, because we do not agree that Ukraine should have more favorable conditions than the Western Balkan countries, which have been working on this for a very long time and very hard. This means that Serbia has our support here as well, to approach these matters in a fair and just way,” Okamura emphasized.

He recalled that he was among the first politicians to apologize for the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and emphasized that he still holds that position today.

“I stand by that position today. Also, at the meeting I shared my view that, had I been a political representative of the Czech Republic at the time, I would not have recognized Kosovo,” Okamura said.

According to him, the meeting also included an agreement to deepen cooperation and work on improving relations.