Domestic situation

The Republic of Serbia has a coalition government comprised of the Democratic Party (DS) of President Tadic, the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) under Mr. Kostunica, and Mr. Velimir Ilic's New Serbia party, which cooperates with the DSS and the G17 Plus party of Mr. Mladjan Dinkic. The post of Prime Minister is still held by Mr. Kostunica (as during the four years from 2003 to 2007), whose party still holds the Ministry of Interior (of crucial importance for arresting the fugitives from justice Karadjic and Mladic). The DS holds the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Finance as well as the Presidency of the Parliament. At the same time, a National Security Council has been established and put in charge of coordinating all of the country's security agencies, under the leadership of President Tadic.

The distribution of ministerial portfolios reflects to a great extent the results of the parliamentary elections of 21 January 2007, which were won by the radical-nationalist party SRS, which got 28.59% of the votes, followed by the DS party with 22.71%. The DSS garnered the third largest percentage of votes 16.55% and the G17 Plus party won 6.8% of the votes.

The coalition was formed on 15 May 2007, following more than three months of tough negotiations, mainly between President Tadic and Mr. Kostunica, under the visible threat of new elections. The need for convergence on European and Euro-Atlantic institutions also played a significant role in this agreement.

Serbia's European/Euro-Atlantic course

Accession to European and Euro-Atlantic institutions is one of Belgrade's primary objectives. Within this framework, a very important development was the relaunching on 13 June 2007 of negotiations with the EU on the conclusion of a Stability and Association Agreement (SAA), which was made possible following the visit to Belgrade of ICTY Prosecutor Ms. Carla Del Ponte and her positive assessment (the first in many months) of the new Serbian government's willingness to cooperate with the Tribunal. Her visit was preceded (on 31 May) by the arrest of Z. Tolimir, the third most wanted suspect on the Tribunal's list and a close aid of Ratko Mladic. Four days after the relaunching of the talks on the SAA, Mr. Vlastimir Djordjevic was also arrested in Budva, Montenegro, in a collaborative effort of the security forces of Serbia and Montenegro.

Last December, NATO opened the gate for Serbia to join the Partnership for Peace programme. The act of accession was signed by President Tadic in Brussels on 14 December 2006.

Finally, the initialling of the agreement on the easing of the entry visa regime gave a major boost to Serbias efforts to emerge from its international isolation. The Serbian political leadership attached particular significance to the visa issue, as shown during the visit of Commissioner Olli Rehn to Belgrade (16 May 2007), when the issue was raised by all his collocutors.

Bilateral relations

Contractual framework: Following the dissolution of the state union between Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia inherited the rights and obligations of the union and, as a result, the existing bilateral contractual framework with our country. Out of the many Greek-Serbian bilateral agreements, it is worth pointing out the agreements on mutual judicial relations, scientific and educational cooperation, tourism development, air transport, international road transportation of passengers and goods, and economic and technological cooperation.

Official bilateral contacts: There are regular high-level visits between the two countries, such as Foreign Minister Ms. Dora Bakoyannis the visit to Belgrade (20 April 2007), on which she was accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Stylianidis, and the recent official visit (19 June 2007) to Athens of Serbias new Foreign Minister, Mr. Vuk Jeremic. There are also frequent contacts between the two countries ministries and agencies on various matters concerning individual sectors.

Economic and trade relations/development cooperation: Greece is one of Serbias main EU trade partners. Bilateral trade has increased significantly over the past few years.

According to the data of the Bureau of Economic and Trade Matters of Greeces Embassy in Belgrade, Greek direct investments in Serbia (from 1996 onwards) amount to $1.2 billion. There are investments in all sectors, but mainly in the industrial and banking sectors. It is worth noting the presence of 150 Greek-Serbian companies, as well as 120 purely Greek businesses that have created some 25,000 jobs.

There is an ongoing process for the implementation of the Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans (which has been extended to 2011), which provides for the allocation of 232.5 million to finance mainly infrastructure projects. On 3 December 2006, Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Stylianidis signed an agreement in Athens with the Serbian Minister of International Economic Relations, Mr. Parivodic, on funding the construction of the section of Corridor X linking the town of Leskovatch and the Serbian-FYROM border, a project with a budget of 100 million.

Finally, Greece mainly northern Greece is the most popular holiday destination for the residents of this neighbouring country. In 2006, the number of entry visas issued by the competent Greek Consular Authority in Belgrade exceeded 200,000. Based on existing data for the summer of 2007, visits of Serbian citizens to our country are expected to rise even further.

Educational Relations: At Belgrade University, a Department of Modern Greek Studies was established in the School of Philology in 1995. Modern Greek has been taught for 20 years in the Belgrade School of the Philosophy Department of Classical Studies. It is also taught at five elementary schools in Belgrade and in certain specialised high schools, along with Ancient Greek. Since September 2000, Modern Greek has been taught at the Slavic Studies Department of the School of Philosophy at Nis University.

Moreover, since September 2000, the Serbian language has been taught at the Balkan, Slavic and Eastern Studies Department of the University of Macedonia, as well as at the Balkan Studies Department of Aristotle University. Finally, a number of cities in Serbia have twinned with Greek cities.

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