Political relations
The exchanges of visits of the Prime Ministers of the two countries in 2014/2015, represented a turning point in relations and provided a key contribution to the improvement of bilateral dialogue and relations.
The improvement of bilateral relations was made possible by directing dialogue and cooperation in areas of common interest (economic cooperation, European integration and infrastructural connections), cooperation within the Berlin Process, as well as cooperation within the Mini Schengen initiative.
Prime Minister of Albania E. Rama visited Serbia in 2014, while Prime Minister A. Vučić paid a return visit to Albania in 2015. The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, M. Gojković, visited Albania in 2015.
Economic relations
After a long stalemate, in April 2015, a constitutive session of the Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation was held in Belgrade. The second session of the Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation, scheduled for 10 – 11 December 2018 in Tirana, was postponed because Albania supported the introduction of a 100% tax on goods from Serbia by Pristina. Inter-chamber cooperation is good (agreement from 2005, frequent meetings, regular presentation of Serbian companies at the leading fair Panair in Tirana, holding a business forum in Niš in October 2016 with the participation of representatives of over 250 companies from the two countries, establishment of Serbian—Albanian trade and industry chambers based in Tirana, on 25 November 2017, with the participation of over 100 companies from the two countries and the presence of the President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Minister of Economy of Serbia. From 21 to 24 November 2019, 24 Serbian companies from various fields participated in the Panair fair in Tirana.
The backbone of economic cooperation is trade, which has been growing steadily in recent years. According to the data of the Republic Bureau of Statistics, in 2019, the volume of trade exchange amounted to close to 184 million euros (Serbian exports amounted to 140.8 million euros, while imports amounted to 42.9 million euros). In the period January – November 2020, exports amounted to 139.5 million euros while imports amounted to 41.8 million euros.
Bilateral agreements
64 agreements and contracts have been signed, of which we single out:
- Agreement on Cooperation in the Fight against Organized Crime, International Illicit Drug Trafficking and International Terrorism between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania, signed on 1 March 2010;
- Protocol on Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, signed on 11 March 2010;
- Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania on mutual travel of citizens, signed on 5 July 2011;
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania on youth cooperation, signed on 10 November 2014;
- Agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania, signed on 15 May 2018.
Contact information
Link of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Tirana http://www.ambasada.gov.al/serbia/
Link of the Embassy of the Republic of Albania in Belgrade http://www.ambasada.gov.al/serbia/
Department for Neighbouring Countries and Southeast Europe (DNCSE); tel. 00 381 (0) 11 30 68 280; e-mail: osz@mfa.rs.