Djuric attends Friends of W Balkans meeting in Rome

ROME - Addressing a ministerial meeting of the Friends of Western Balkans group in Rome, Serbian FM Marko Djuric pointed out the importance of global and regional initiatives and Serbia's commitment to the EU integration process, noting that the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue remained Serbia's main challenge.

Djuric said that, in the past two and a half years, Serbia had begun carrying out serious reforms including a series of legal reforms commended and recognised by the EU, the Serbian MFA said in a statement.

He said the Serbian government had officially set December 31, 2026 as the deadline for carrying out all legal, political and other legislative reforms with a view to aligning with EU standards.

"I think that is good news for Serbia, and I believe it could also be good news for Europe, too," Djuric noted.

He said Serbia had also assumed the Central European Initiative presidency this year and noted that the presidency would be used to encourage regional connectivity and boost infrastructure.

As one of the successes achieved by Serbia, Djuric highlighted the country's aspiration to lead economic growth in the region and noted that the dialogue with Pristina remained the main challenge for Belgrade.

"We welcome the appointment of (EU special envoy) Peter Sorensen, whose role we will strongly support. In the coming days, I will also meet with him to try to encourage an approach focusing on trust-building measures. I believe we can strengthen the work on implementation of agreements reached to date and other commitments, while also finding something new that would be beneficial to both sides," Djuric noted.

He also pointed out the significance of Serbia's presidency of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, adding that the Rome meeting was also an opportunity for discussions with officials from the region about proposals on ways to make the presidency even more efficient.