Ms Moret held talks with her Serbian counterpart in Belgrade, Ivica Dačić, with President Aleksandar Vučić, with Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and with Minister of Finance Siniša Mali. The discussions focussed on the public health impact of the coronavirus, the progress of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, the development cooperation support provided by Switzerland and the process of accession to the European Union.
Serbia is a priority country for Swiss cooperation and development. Ms Moret visited the cities of Niš and Paraćin where she held talks with the local authorities on Swiss support provided to Serbia at the regional level. She also visited the e-parliament project implemented in the City Assembly of Niš, which aims to improve and promote transparency and parliamentary dialogue. Also in Niš, the delegation visited the Science and Technology Park, which Switzerland supports as part of its efforts to promote the Serbian economy, in order to ensure increased income and job creation in a country that is still in the throes of a brain drain. Ms Moret also visited the city of Paraćin, which was hard hit by flooding in 2014, where she inspected the progress of the work to upgrade seven road and pedestrian bridges. She then visited the construction site of a school being renovated as part of a project to help cities and municipalities become eligible for the certification European Energy Award and improve their energy management and efficiency.
The last presidential meeting with leaders from Serbia was held in 2016, when the former president of the National Council, Christa Markwalder (PLR/BE) received her then Serbian counterpart in Switzerland (link). Ms Moret’s visit to Serbia marked the first official meeting for the speaker of the Serbian Parliament after his election, and took place a few days after the appointment of the government of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, at the end of October.
Shortly before Ms Moret’s visit to Kosovo, the president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, resigned after being indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by a special court in The Hague. Under the Constitution of Kosovo, the Chairwoman of the Assembly of Kosovo became the interim President of Kosovo. It is thus in her dual role that Vjosa Osmani received Ms Moret in Kosovo. The last presidential meeting with leaders from Kosovo was held in 2013, when the former president of the National Council, Maya Graf (PES, BL) paid a return visit to Kosovo with a Swiss parliamentary delegation (link).
In Pristina, Ms Moret was also received by Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti. Discussions with the Kosovar representatives focussed on the health and political situation, the normalisation of relations with Serbia, Switzerland’s support to Kosovo and the process of European integration. In relation to the health crisis, Ms Moret also met with members of the parliamentary committee investigating the Kosovo government’s management of the pandemic.
In the municipalities of Mitrovica South, Mitrovica North and Prizren, Isabelle Moret met the commander of SWISSCOY and members of the Liaison and Monitoring Team (LMT) to receive an update on Switzerland’s contribution to the NATO-led international peacekeeping mission, KFOR.
In Pristina, Ms Moret held talks with the director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and with representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. Discussions focussed on the public health impact of the coronavirus and international aid to Kosovo. Switzerland is one of Kosovo’s main partners and a key donor country, having donated EUR 500,000 through the UNDP for the purchase of ventilators and COVID-19 test kits.
Like Serbia, Kosovo is a priority country receiving Swiss cooperation and development support. Isabelle Moret visited a water supply project in Suhareka supported by Switzerland that benefits around 5,300 people. She also visited a cooperative venture established to help war widows to become economically independent in the village of Krusha e Madhe, and she laid a wreath of flowers at the memorial to the village’s victims of war and to the persons who are still missing. The visit to the memorial site and the floral offering was a gesture of Switzerland’s commitment to helping Kosovo deal with the past, in particular with missing persons.
The president of the National Council was accompanied on her visit to both countries by National Councillor Mauro Tuena (UDC/ZH) who is vice president of the National Council Security Policy Committee.