Starović: Frequent meetings with German officials are a reason for optimism

State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nemanja Starović stated that the upcoming visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Belgrade was important given the great importance of Serbia's cooperation with Germany, which is by far the largest foreign trade partner for Serbia, and that frequent visits and meetings with German officials gave us reason for optimism.

In an interview with “Alo”, Starović said that the visit of the German Chancellor was important because it represented a kind of introduction to the EU–Western Balkans summit to be held in Brussels on 23 June, at which important messages about the region's European future were expected, primarily from the leading German–French duo.

When he was asked if Chancellor Scholz had conditioned his visit in any way with the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Belgrade, Starović said that Scholz's visit to Belgrade had been planned and scheduled, and that the German side was to say if any additional conditions for Chancellor Scholz's visit existed.

Starović said that it was no secret that there were certain challenges in the realisation of Sergey Lavrov's visit, as well as issues of technical nature, which would probably be clarified.

According to him, it is very important for Serbia to maintain an adequate level of dialogue with all international partners, and the complications Serbia faces are not the result of its wishes or actions.

When asked about the war in Ukraine, Starović said he was afraid that the war in Eastern Europe would not end quickly, and even if that happened, we would all feel the consequences of the conflict in the future.

Starović added that in such circumstances, it was of the utmost importance for Serbia to preserve peace and stability in the region, extend a hand of cooperation to our neighbours and ensure further economic development by which Serbia would catch up with its European environment.