BELGRADE, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Italy supports Serbia on its European path and wishes to develop cooperation further as the country progresses towards membership in the European Union, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said here on Tuesday.
Alfano is visiting the region in preparation for the EU-Western Balkans meeting to be held in July in Trieste, Italy. He started his tour here and met with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.
Serbia is "the motor that can bring good results to the Balkans and help efforts that EU undertakes" in the region, Alfano said.
"Serbia's place is in Europe, which has a need for bigger and wider horizons," he added in a joint press conference with Dacic.
Alfano said he discussed many aspects of cooperation with Serbian leaders. A memorandum was signed between the the foreign ministries of the two countries.
Dacic said that the visit was a confirmation of good relations between the two countries.
"Next September, the governments of the two countries will hold their fourth joint session, and we see this as an important confirmation of our strategic partnership and the continuity of dialogue between the two countries," Dacic said.
He said the 2016 trade balance between the two nations reached 3.7 billion euros (3.94 billion U.S. dollars) and around 600 Italian companies employ several tens of thousands of workers in Serbia.
"Italy is the first ranked country when it comes to Serbian export, while it's the second ranked country, after Germany, from which Serbia imports," Dacic said, pointing out that Italian companies invested around 300 million euros in the past three years in Serbia.
"Serbia wishes for regional cooperation, peace and stability, while on the other hand, we are thankful to Italy for its support to our European path as well as on all efforts it makes in preparation " for the Trieste meeting which will result in concrete topics, Dacic said. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollars)
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