With this mission I wanted to confirm the priority attention that Italy reserves to Serbia and also the importance of the stability of the European perspective for the entire Balkan region: the sincere friendship that binds our peoples and our countries even during the most difficult stages between Serbia and the West
Behind today’s populist upheavals is a widespread recognition that the economy no longer serves the public good, or even the interests of most of its participants. To understand why, one must identify what has been lost amid so much material technological gain
Whether or not Serbia will free itself in 2019 of the shackles of the Kosovo problem - the alpha and omega of its foreign and domestic policies - depends largely on the diplomatic capabilities of its president
Serbia has to date failed to address the issue of slow growth. As such, any prognosis of economic growth in 2019 depends much more on the question of whether the government will, finally, truly embrace reforms, than it does on metrics. As long as statistics are dressed to impress, the 3.5% growth estimated for 2019 will be presented as continuous success, despite meaning stagnation in reality
The recent elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina provided new confirmation that there can be no inter-ethnic cooperation and multiculturalism while three constituent nations lead political parties that are based on pure nationalism, instead of on political programmes and ideas
This one is not on the scale of the predicament the EU faced in the 1990s, when leaders argued and agonized over how to respond to the wars that tore Yugoslavia apart, including whether to intervene militarily
Since the 2000s, when the transition process began, Serbia probably hasn’t had a better chance than this one – to conclude structural reforms and open the way to strengthening the new economy that has grown out of the ruins of the old system.
A key problem in combatting the grey economy is the treatment of misconduct and criminal charges in the area of illicit trade by the prosecution and the courts, i.e. ineffective processing and excessively mild punishment policies
Amendments to the Law on Food Safety should remove barriers to foreign trade and ease exports to the European market, thereby increasing the food sector’s competitiveness
The stance of Serbia’s central bank regarding its consideration of reducing the capital required to conduct real estate leasing activities is encouraging and will enable financial leasing to become a driver of the real estate sector’s development
Serbia has huge potential in the field of human resources, but it lacks the legal framework that would support this exceptional chance and contribute to fully utilising the potential of this market
The public sector often lacks the expertise required to independently prepare and implement projects, which can be compensated for via the further encouraging of the development of public-private partnerships
The proponents of new laws and regulatory amendments should listen to the ideas, proposals and demands of the market, as that is the only way to achieve a proper overview of the best solutions and ensure good practical application
