President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic will visit Armenia on October 11. On the eve of the visit he gave an exclusive interview to Mediamax.

- Mr. President, you are going to visit Armenia on an official visit this week. Which are the key issues of the agenda of your visit?

- During my visit to Armenia I will try to find ways with my hosts to improve the cooperation between our two countries. When I say “to improve the cooperation” I mean the economic cooperation, because the relations between our two friendly peoples are traditionally excellent. However, when you have in mind the fact that in the first half of 2014, the trade between Serbia and Armenia reached a mere 10 million dollars, it is clear that it is not a praiseworthy result, and that there is plenty of scope for improvement of economic relations.

The number of agreements that have been signed by our countries is negligible and that is something we are very much concerned about and which makes us react. What interests us are concrete proposals and projects that can contribute to the improvement of living both in Serbia and in Armenia. This is going to be the main topic of discussions during my visit.

- In your opinion, in which economic areas can our countries cooperate and how do you picture the activation of economic ties?

- For two years now Serbia has been intensively working to improve its business environment and positive changes are already in evidence, especially in terms of the rating of our country among foreign investors and when financial resources are concerned. Agriculture and energy are primarily the fields where we have a strong performance. By improving the business environment of which I spoke, the doors have opened wide to many foreign companies.

They are already showing interest in investing in our economy, and I think that there are enough opportunities for Armenian companies as well.

On the other hand, Armenia as a country that has been constantly developing for a number of years already, is a perfect market for our companies and I am confident that by working together we can find a lot in common and many ways to intensify our economic cooperation.

- At a recent meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister in Belgrade, Serbian FM Ivica Dačić said Serbia is going to open an embassy in Yerevan. When are you going to open it?

- It is primarily a technical issue dealt by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. What is important is that there is a will and awareness that it is necessary to do it as soon as possible. I am convinced that we all agree on that, since it is unreasonable that our relations are managed through our embassies in Athens.

- During the office of Former President of Serbia Boris Tadić Serbian-Azerbaijani relations reached the level of strategic ties, which, as some believe, drove the good and historic relations between Yerevan and Belgrade to the back. What’s your opinion on this?

- In the two years since I took office, I did my best to make Serbia have a foreign policy that will open doors to it all over the world. I do not think it is bad for Armenia that my predecessor wanted to establish better relations with Azerbaijan. In its relations with other countries, Serbia is following in the footsteps of its predecessor, Yugoslavia, and has only friends. There are many countries in the world which have strained relations between them but which are friends of Serbia. It is not well for Armenia and Serbia that such relations have not been established between our countries.

I think it’s a pity that it was so, and we lost a lot of time unnecessarily. But it is an opportunity for all of us now to correct the mistake, to the benefit of our peoples.

- Representatives of Serbia have repeatedly thanked Armenia for its position over Kosovo. What’s Serbia’s stance on the peace process of Nagorno Karabakh conflict?

- As we have demonstrated when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija, Serbia upholds the view that there is no conflict in the world that cannot be resolved peacefully and through negotiations.

Serbia's principled position is that the Madrid principles must be respected, and that the efforts of the Minsk Group must be supported. All else is just a prelude to a terrible mess that we experienced full well in our own case. Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Serbia will welcome any initiative to resolve it peacefully, in order to avoid any further suffering of people and new victims. War has never brought any good to anyone

- In 2015, Serbia will hold the OSCE Chairmanship. Will the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement be among the priorities of your country’s Chairmanship? 

- Serbia will strive during its OSCE chairmanship to provide its full support towards a peaceful and effective resolution of existing conflicts in Europe, and of the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh as well, with full respect of international law and territorial integrity of every country. Because of its good relations with both countries in dispute, Serbia is perhaps the ideal OSCE Chairman-in-Office, which can help solve the problem.

Yekaterina Poghosyan talked to Tomislav Nikolic