Dacic: Three reasons for gratitude to Norway

BELGRADE - Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic and Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus stated on Thursday that Serbia and Norway share traditionally friendly ties and good bilateral relations.

Serbia and Norway share many years' long traditional friendship which dates back to World War II, Dacic told the press conference with the crown prince of Norway who is paying an official visit to Belgrade.

We owe deep gratitude to Norway for three reasons, that is for the substantial development assistance and donations Norway provided to Serbia in the course of all these years, he said and added that in the past decade, the value of the assistance provided by Norway totalled over EUR 250 million.

He also noted that with over EUR 5 million worth of donations, Norway is one of the biggest donors among the countries which provided assistance to Serbia after the May floods.

Dacic also recalled that Norway is the second biggest investor in Serbia and that the Telenor telecommunications company is their most important investment.

He also expressed gratitude to Norway because although not EU member itself, it provided support to Serbia's European path.

We want our bilateral relations do develop further and I hope that we will soon be able to continue the dialogue on top levels between the two countries and nations, the Serbian foreign minister said.

Prince Haakon said that the focus of attention during his visit to Serbia rests on strengthening of existing bilateral relations and deepening of economic ties.

Dacic and the Norwegian crown prince agreed that Oslo has greatly contributed to the realisation of Serbia's foreign policy goals and its EU...