Good afternoon everyone,
speaking as a guest, I would like to tell President Vučić that this has already been extraordinary; the welcome we have received this morning has truly been very impressive. I thank him and I am certain that, following this first visit of mine to Serbia as President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, our already very important and very significant relations can become even stronger.
We have obviously had several opportunities to meet with President Vučić in the past, but I was keen to follow up on a visit that had been planned for some time and that I consider to be important as part of our very important relations.

Italy and Serbia have multiplied their bilateral initiatives, especially of late – President Vučić mentioned the Business Forum; we are ready to resume intergovernmental dialogue as well. There really are many initiatives that we are pursuing together and the value of our trade, which is already excellent, certainly can and will grow: Italy is already very present here in Serbia, there are many Italian companies that invest here, contributing to employment levels with approximately 50,000 workers – but we can do more.

I believe the fact that Belgrade is the leading city in the world where extremely important Italian companies have opened offices, including state-owned companies such as Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and various others (e.g., Simest, Sace), shows the amount of attention paid by Italian businesses to investing in this nation, also based on the work that the government under President Vučić has done. I believe this must be recognised.
Objectively speaking, the economic results achieved in recent years are extraordinary, attracting the interest of Italian companies, Italy’s institutional system and its regional authorities, that act as a driving force in Italy to continue strengthening our relationship.

Today, there are many challenges, as crises always bring, and those challenges offer opportunities: I am thinking of the whole issue of the energy transition, I am thinking of the issue of innovation, I am thinking of the issue of artificial intelligence. There are many issues today that Italy and Serbia can work on even more, even better together, and I am extremely pleased that there is the opportunity to strengthen these investment opportunities, to mutually strengthen our economies, also between leaders who understand each other with ease.

All of this, and all the work Italy and Serbia are doing together, shows the strategic importance Italy attaches to Serbia. This is also why we have been, and will continue to be – and this is something else I want to say extremely clearly – one of the main supporters of the enlargement process, which is how it is referred to in discussions at EU level; I have always called it the reunification of Europe. I do not think that Europe is a club, I do not think it is a club where someone decides who is European and who is not European; history and geography have decided who is European. I believe the European institutions need to carry out a serious and as quick a process as possible, in order to guarantee this reunification, especially in the very complex international context we are navigating. Europe cannot call itself truly united until the Western Balkans have joined the European family in institutional terms. President Vučić is well aware that he can count on Italy’s support and commitment, starting with the next European Council meeting which, from this point of view, will be a very important one, also to speed up gradual access to the single market, as indicated in the Growth Plan presented by the European Commission.

The European Integration of the Western Balkans is clearly a path we must continue to follow, also because it is crucial to guarantee greater security and more economic growth for this region, and consequently for the whole of Europe.
Serbia is already making its contribution and I am sure it will continue to have a constructive approach in the EU-facilitated dialogue with Kosovo, which is also something we have spoken about. Italy is of course a firm supporter of this process, and we believe it is necessary to work towards fully and swiftly implementing the commitments made by the parties with the agreements that have already been reached.

There are many other issues that we think we can cooperate on, as responsible, pragmatic people who endeavor to envisage solutions to problems. We spoke about immigration and security, another issue that is particularly close to Italy’s heart, as you know. With regard to the Balkan route, fighting irregular immigration is a goal that Rome and Belgrade share. Also in this regard, I wish to thank Serbia for its efforts in this direction. We are convinced that our efforts must shift to the problem’s external dimension, in order to tackle the issue before it arrives to Europe. For us, the external dimension is of course key in countering illegal flows, which is also the only way to solve the long-running issue of secondary movements.

We clearly also spoke about the ongoing crises, about Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. You are aware of Italy’s position, and we will continue to provide comprehensive support to Ukraine to guarantee its freedom and sovereignty. We spoke about the crisis in the Middle East, about how we all can and must work to prevent an escalation of the conflict, which could lead to consequences that are unimaginable for us today. As you know, Italy is working very hard especially on the humanitarian front: we have already sent an Italian ship – the ‘Vulcano’ – with a field hospital on board; we are trying to make our humanitarian contribution to the civilians in Gaza.

Our nations therefore have an all-round commitment with regard to our bilateral relations, with regard to the European dimension and with regard to the role that important nations need to play in the extremely complex context we are currently experiencing at international level.

I wish to thank President Vučić once again for the hospitality. I am very satisfied with this visit, which is not yet over, so there is still a lot to discover, but I believe the outcome is a relationship that can become stronger and stronger and certainly a promising future. I am certain we will continue to work together to ensure our nations resolutely follow this path, with a spirit of strong partnership and friendship, because we have very often found ourselves in agreement on many issues. President Vučić is a person who is used to straight talking. This has impressed me about him since day one, because I am also a person who is used to speaking rather plainly and, in the end, it is the people who speak plainly who understand each other the best, and this undoubtedly also helps and strengthens our relationship.

So thank you, Mr President, thank you for this welcome, and thanks to all of you.

[Courtesy translation]