Italy-Serbia: strengthening economic cooperation through the signing of new bilateral agreements

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani at a joint press conference organized with the Prime Minister of Serbia Milos Vucevic on the occasion of the Italy-Serbia Business Forum in Trieste.

Italy intends to strengthen strategic cooperation with Serbia in all sectors, while supporting Belgrade’s integration path with the European Union. This position is expressed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajaniwho met with the head of the Serbian government in Trieste, Milos Vucevic, on the occasion of the Business Forum between the two countries, in which representatives of the governments of both sides, as well as various business entities, participated in large numbers. Italy “will do everything to ensure that Serbia’s accession to the European Union is as quick as possible,” Tajani said, hoping that Belgrade’s full membership in the EU “could happen before 2030.” We strongly believe in the unification of Europe – added the minister – We will ensure that those countries that could not be part of the EU from the beginning due to the historical dictatorship join Europe first. We will make every effort to ensure that times come quickly and I hope that we will be able to accelerate the deadline set by the President of the European Council Charles Michel by 2030.” Overall, Tajani continued, the unification of the Balkans with Europe “must be a priority not only for the Italian government but for all governments of the European Union.” “The history of our relations is an ancient history of friendly nations that knew how to be close and still are close,” noted Tajani, according to whom Serbia’s entry does not mean “an expansion of the European Union, but an opportunity to return home to nations that were prevented from being part of it. Europe is their history and their identity.” “We know how much the Serbian nation has fought throughout history to defend the Christian identity of Europe,” she continued.

According to Prime Minister Vucevic, without the Western Balkan countries Europe itself would not be complete and “for this reason we would like our Italian partners and political actors to perceive Serbia as a high-quality partner that has a lot to offer in terms of environmental protection, in the energy sector, agriculture, infrastructure and trade.” Serbia added that Vucevic “is a country that can compete positively with all countries on the continent.” According to the Serbian Prime Minister, it is a geopolitical and security issue, as well as an economic one. “It is impossible to end the history of Europe without the membership of our country and the countries of the Western Balkans, but it is the economy that can connect us,” said the head of government, citing numbers regarding the Serbian economy: 4.5 billion foreign direct investment, unemployment below 9 percent, growth forecast at 3-4 percent. “I want to tell Italian investors that Serbia is characterized by socio-economic stability,” he added. From this perspective, according to Vucevic, the greatest opportunities for cooperation between Italian and Serbian companies will focus on the energy sector, environmental protection and the development of renewable energy sources. “We would like to see a greater presence of Italian companies in the infrastructure sector. The 4.5 billion trade figure achieved in 2023 can be improved,” Vucevic said, “by continuing to promote industrial development and diversify the energy sector without stopping economic development.” The Prime Minister then invited his counterpart Giorgia Meloni to participate in the intergovernmental session to be held in Belgrade.

Trieste and its territory were also the main characters of the business forum. For Tajani, the city is “the operational symbol of Italian growth diplomacy aimed at the Western Balkans” and constitutes “a geographical and ideal bridge between Italy and that part of Europe that must be able to return to being an integral part of the continent also from a political point of view.” “We will continue to work with Trieste and the region to strengthen Italy’s role and ensure that the Balkan countries have geographically close interlocutors who understand their mentality, organization and language better than others,” Tajani explained. In turn, as Vucevic noted, Serbia “is ready to develop cooperation with Italy and Friuli Venezia Giulia, using the full logistical potential of Trieste,” hoping that Italy and the Region “will also be able to offer us further benefits.” The president of Friuli Venezia Giulia Massimiliano Fedriga also spoke on this topic, explaining that the Western Balkan countries represent strategic partners of Italy and the region. “We need to think about strong cooperation with this geographical area, in particular in all nearshoring activities, i.e. connecting production chains currently supplied to China and the Far East, which affect the economy and the production and work model in Europe,” Fedriga said. “The Western Balkans can be a strategic element in solving this problem in a constructive and decisive way. We must connect and control the basic elements of our production chains,” concluded the Regional President.

During the Business Forum, agreements were also signed between Italian groups and Serbian companies. In particular, Sace has signed two financial agreements with a total value of EUR 400 million aimed at developing Italian exports to Serbia. The first agreement concerns a financial line of EUR 200 million guaranteed by Sace to the Ministry of Finance of Belgrade, aimed at supporting Serbia’s development plans and strengthening trade relations in the transport, tourism, telecommunications, energy and ITC sectors, with the aim of facilitating the access of Italian companies to the Serbian market. The second agreement, signed with Telekom Serbia, provides for financing of up to EUR 200 million guaranteed by Sace to strengthen commercial relations with Italian exporters operating in the sectors of ICT services, commercial distribution and the purchase and sale of television rights. Instead, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Cdp) guaranteed a €100 million loan to the electricity company Elektroprivreda Srbije Beograd (Eps). CDP’s investment, in addition to another 300 million loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and a 100 million loan from the German National Institute for Promotion KfW, supports the country’s decarbonization efforts through EPS’ implementation of policies that accelerate the transformation towards a sustainable electricity production system. Finally, Simest signed a memorandum of understanding with the Serbian Development Agency (Ras), which aims to develop and strengthen trade relations between both countries through close synergy between both institutions. Simest will develop a dual strategy aimed at consolidating economic relations with the area: implementing a ceiling of financial subsidies of EUR 200 million; opening – in synergy with Farnesina and the Italian Embassy in Serbia – the first foreign office of Simest in Belgrade to closely support companies.

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