Serbia to keep developing ties with Türkiye, says parliament speaker

Serbia and Türkiye will continue to develop relations in every field, the Balkan nation's parliament speaker said on Thursday.

"We see the results of these relations. We achieved great results in the fields of economy and infrastructure. I would like to thank Türkiye once again for supporting the formation of the 'Open Balkan' which is important for us," said Vladimir Orlic, speaking at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mustafa Şentop in the capital Belgrade.

The Open Balkan initiative covers an economic and political zone between Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia, aimed at boosting trade and student exchange opportunities for some 12 million people, as well as encouraging the three countries' integration into the EU.

Orlic said Türkiye was making several valuable investments in Serbia.

"Türkiye employs about 10,000 people in our country. However, the most important point here is that we are doing this in places where there is an unemployment problem in Serbia," he said.

The parliament chief added that one of the most important projects between the two nations was the Sarajevo-Belgrade Highway Project between the capital of his country and neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina.