Deputy Transport Min. Kefalogiannis holds series of meetings in Serbia

Deputy Transport Minister Yiannis Kefalogiannis, who is paying a two-day visit to Belgrade, on Friday had a brief meeting with the Prime Minister of Serbia Anna Brnabic on the sidelines of the opening ceremony establishing a permanent secretariat of the EU-Western Balkans 'Transport Community' in Serbia.

Kefalogiannis was the first member of the new Greek government to visit Serbia.

In a statement to the Athens-Macedonia News Agency (ANA) about his meeting with Brnabic, he said: "I had a brief talk with the prime minister with whom we examined the possibility of a visit to Serbia by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the coming period." No date has yet been confirmed, he added, "but it is being prepared in a way that will be in both countries' interests".

He also referred to the importance of strengthening relations between Greece and Serbia on all levels. "Serbia is a key-country for the whole region. Besides our traditionally very good relations, during the following year we will be able to develop our political and economic relations even further," he said to ANA, noting that the Western Balkans are a very important region for Greece, because through them Greece has access to the markets of central and northern Europe.

Kefalogiannis also met his Serbian counterpart Miodrag Poledica and the Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for the economic relations Nemanja Stevanovic. "I briefed Stevanovic of the interest of Greek enterprises and the Greek government for a greater financial presence in Serbia and conveyed to him the change in climate that currently exists in Greece regarding investment opportunities in the wider region of the Balkans," he said, adding that he had also raised the problems facing Greek enterprises in Serbia, mostly relating to administration and bureaucracy, and asked him to intervene.