On 2 December, Minister of Justice of the Government of the Republic of Serbia Maja Popović and Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Wendy Morton met to discuss legal cooperation between Republic of Serbia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Legal cooperation between the two countries has been conducted on the basis of multilateral and two bilateral treaties, the first of which — Minister Popović noted — was the Agreement on Mutual Extradition of Convicted Persons between Serbia and Great Britain, signed 120 years ago. Minister Popović said that rule of law was one of the priorities of the Ministry of Justice, and that Serbia was interested in deepening the bilateral relations and cooperation in all areas with the United Kingdom. As a matter of foreign policy, she highlighted that Serbia’s highest priority was to become a full member of the European Union, to which end it had been fully committed to maintaining stability in the region and intensifying cooperation between countries of the Western Balkans.
About Minister Popović’s expressed interest in deepening the cooperation between the two countries, Minister Morton said that ‘an important period is ahead of us during which we wish to cooperate with Serbia in the advancement of the rule of law. We also support Serbia’s continued cooperation with the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals and civil society organisations, for the purpose of fighting impunity for war crimes and respecting the rights of victims of the regional conflicts.’
Another meeting discussion point concerned the UK Government’s support to Serbia in implementing the necessary reforms, and the fact that the UK Government was the biggest donor in the area of e-Government.
Ambassador of Great Britain to Serbia Sian MacLeod was also present at the meeting.