Prague, Nov 30 (CTK) – Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka supported Serbia’s EU accession during his meeting with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on Wednesday, and he tweeted that Prague seeks an increase in bilateral trade.
On Tuesday, Serbia’s entry into the EU was also supported by Czech President Milos Zeman.
Earlier on Wednesday, Nikolic met the Chamber of Deputies chairman, Jan Hamacek, to discuss the EU and Czech expatriates in Serbia.
Sobotka said on Twitter that the Czech Republic clearly supports Serbia’s accession to the EU.
In early November, Sobotka met his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic during the Riga summit of 16 Central and East European countries and China. He said the Balkan countries’ EU accession talks must remain a priority. Their accession is important for the EU’s stability, he said.
Trade and the migrant crisis were also on the agenda of the Sobotka-Nikolic meeting in the Kramar Villa in Prague on Wednesday.
The Czech government spokesman Martin Ayrer said Nikolic thanked the Czechs for aid in tackling migration.
Fifteen Czech police officers have been deployed in Serbia since the beginning of November, Ayrer said.
Hamacek and Nikolic met for the second time in a week. Last Wednesday, they had a meeting in Belgrade.
They focused on the migrant crisis and Serbia’s EU entry on Wednesday.
“The Czech Republic supports the pro-European path of Serbia. I do not consider it fair if Serbia, within its [accession] talks, were faced with conditions that are hard to meet and that the Czech Republic did not face during its accession process,” Hamacek told CTK.
Hamacek, who recently visited ethnic Czechs living in the Serbian Banat area, thanked Nikolic for Belgrade’s minority policy on Wednesday.
“Our compatriots enjoy a great support from the Serbian government,” Hamacek said.
He said the two countries’ parliaments should sign a cooperation memorandum involving the exchange of information and experience.
