On Friday, 5th May 2017 in Canberra, the first bilateral political consultations were held between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, on the level of the assistant ministers responsible for the bilateral cooperation.
Serbian side was led by Acting Assistant Minister Ambassador Goran Aleksić, and Australian side by First Assistant Secretary, Ms Louise Hand.
During the talks between two delegations a wide range of issues of importance to the relations and cooperation between two countries was covered – from the mutual information on events which are of importance for the positioning internationally, to the review of topics that are of great importance for improving the cooperation between two countries within the international organizations, with emphasis on specific issues of cooperation on the bilateral level such as economy (investment and trade exchange), expansion and improvement of legal basis for cooperation (with special emphasis on understanding the circumstances of importance for the continuation of negotiations of the Social Security Agreement), as well as the activities in the aim of improving cultural, sporting and educational cooperation.
Serbian delegation presented the foreign policy priorities of Serbia, with emphasis on measures and activities within their true commitment to the preservation of peace and stability in the Balkans region as well as resolving the question of Kosovo and Metohija through dialogue between Belgrade and Priština.
Acknowledging that the relationship between Serbia and Australia is friendly and that there are no opened questions, it was jointly concluded that the Serbian community in Australia represents one of the most important bridges of current and future cooperation between two countries so mutually more attention will be paid towards the realization of some of the activities in the coming period.
It was jointly determined that the long history of relations between two countries is a good basis and strong incentive for improvement of overall relations between Serbia in Australia in the coming period. In addition to the establishment of regular political dialogue at the high and highest level, it was jointly evaluated that the implementation of investment projects, among which is the Rio Tinto company’s project “Jadar” as one of the most important, will contribute to the new content and quality of relations between two countries in the coming period.