Bilateral meetings ahead of Belgrade summit

Bilateral meetings ahead of Belgrade summit

BELGRADE -- Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic began a series of bilateral meetings held as part of the China - Central and Eastern European countries summit in Belgrade.

He first spoke with Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng.

Vucic then met with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, and the two discussed improving bilateral and economic cooperation, as well as infrastructural projects of importance for their countries.

According to Vucic, priorities of his government include strengthening relations with neighbors and continued policy of reconciliation. Djukanovic said that upcoming projects such as the Belgrade-Bar railroad and plans for other regional projects "could mark the summit."

The two prime ministers agreed to hold a joint session of their cabinets in March 2015, and form a working group to look into joint projects in the areas of energy, infrastructure and transport.

Aleksandar Vucic and Minister of Transport of the People's Republic of China Yang Chuantang discussed on Tuesday the construction of a high-speed rail line between Belgrade and Budapest and methods to finance the project.

The two officials highlighted the need for a feasibility study to be completed by June 2015 to have the railway built by June 2017, the government's media relations office said in a release.

Talks on the project to build a double-track railroad with up to 200 km/h speed were started during the Serbian prime minister's visit to China in September.

Vucic and his Romanian counterpart Victor Ponta discussed economic cooperation on Tuesday and stressed the need for more work on a highway between Temisoara and Belgrade, an...