 Thank you, Mr. Brown. So let me try go to meet you good So I would like to thank you for a warm welcome. I I wanted to visit Iran for a long time But the good thing about having children is that they grow and my two daughters two years ago said the perfect place Daddy to spend our August is Ireland and Scotland and After some convincing I we went and it was really a wonderful idea So I had the opportunity to spend one week here and we went To Sligo to to the West Spent two days here in Dublin and and it really although the crisis of course has already started I was asking where the polls I Heard the places called the Blinsk also, but there are already fewer them. They said well They're gone they back to the back towards and as you mentioned 20 years ago. I was a Young advisor to the Polish government at that time and this transition story Takes unexpected turns for instance last year. I was able to meet my former head in the Ministry of privatization where I worked in Poland Janusz Lewandowski who is now the commissioner in charge of the budget of the European Commission And on Sunday, I mean we're going this weekend for an official visit to to to Warsaw and to Poland and On Sunday night. I have a dinner with Lashik Balcerowicz who is one of the great figures of transition I would say overall and Here's somebody who had a big imprint on our transitions alone who in the in the UN overall complex He helped us quite a lot. He was quite famous when he was in Belgrade Talking a lot many many things. We didn't understand everything, but he was always very interesting. So It's a great pleasure to be here and I would like just to tell you Some elements about where Serbia and to some extent what where the bus Western Balkans are I have to be careful because sometimes we from Serbia are being not always welcome to talk about other countries as well and Please see it as really a care for a region because there is an increased realization I would say also in the Balkans that it's difficult to be successful if If nobody else is successful around you. So that's why we warmly welcome the accession of Croatia to the European Union in July of 2013 This does not mean that we have sold every open issue with Croatia But if there's one bilateral relation which over the last few years has really improved is it is the one between Serbia and Croatia I had to tell you with Slovenia for instance We will be very hard pressed to find a single open issue and as a symbol When three months ago a Serbian juice maker nektar Purchased what used to be the leader in juice making next Yugoslavia fructal This was a vindication in a way in a very direct way of the European idea over a nationalistic idea Let me illustrate in the times of the breakup of Yugoslavia There was Serbian national saying that we are taken for a ride by the Slovenians Our great fruit and it is great fruit in Serbia may make no mistake and eat our raspberries. They're the best We send them to Slovenia. They're transformed and then we pay dearly For those Slovenian juice and so we are being exploited by Slovenia within this Yugoslavia And you have to boycott their products And so when our juice maker took over fructal, I asked, where are you? Nationalists, what do you have to say now about this? now fructal or Slovenia company is in Serbian hands and by the way Slovenia has already invested almost 2 billion euro in Serbia with more than 500 companies present in all directions And they are really considered as domestic together We're stronger Together we have a chance facing the multinational companies, not that they're enemies But sometimes it's good also to have some decision-making capacity at least in the region So when the Slovenian company Gorenje, which is producing and it's already I would say a world brand Decided to locate yet a third or fourth factor in Serbia This is also recognizing the relative place one can have in this value chain to mutual benefit So before I tell you about what politicians have to talk about which are problems that we need to solve Let me tell you that not everything is going poorly in the Balkans Many destroyed relations have been improved many I would say things are being mended and If one looks at what people listen to You would say there has been there will be a This weekend a singer from Sarajevo, Dino Merlin Who was under the shells during the shelling of Sarajevo and he made at that time statements, which were really strong He without one single Second of advertisement filled in three and apparently four times the Belgrade arena, which is 25,000 people Ordinary folks who want to listen to him because he's a great singer and then when Russia cut the tap on natural gas was it three years ago My president was very active. We kind of found some reserves in in Hungary and In Germany were grateful to them And I have to tell you that the ordinary people really felt good When we're able immediately to share that gas also with our Boston friends Because yes, the boss next were the biggest victims of the previous Conflict National people tell you but then in the second world war it was the Serbs and it's true It was the Serbs biggest victims in the second world war But what is coming? I would say more and more to the fore and here I see the main role of Europe useful role as Some say the last positive utopia Definitely under stress right now But this idea that put basically Germany in France definitely not to wage war anymore and for us in the Balkans joining the European Union is a way Also to make sure that it happens never again That we be together on the same table and we saw many differences through discussion not through weapons and So that's I think why when you as you mentioned in 2008 There was debate within the European Union whether Serbia should sign the SA a because marriage was still in the Hague in the end there was a consensus to sign the SA a and Then there was some legal innovation suspended immediately. I bet you it wasn't possible illegally, but Apparently everything is possible in Europe Some people are saying no Serbia has to prove it's true democratic and it should not be allowed to move closer to Europe Before it demonstrated that by capturing knowledge and had it encourage it at that time We were of a different opinion We said by having a true European agenda you will be strengthening the pro-european forces You will strengthen the strands in society that really see I2I with European values Through this path, we will strengthen also the civilian control of the deep power structures of secret police and army This is the view that prevailed and that view allowed Let me just recap what has been done after a pro-european government was formed in 2008 Three days after we ended up and yes only eight years down the road after the removal of Milosevic by appointing Ahead of the secret police which really shared those values European values to find cartridge and Then yes, it took too much time This may to find Ladic and in July Haddish and that way all the 46 entities were found Arrested and extradited to the HRA bureau. We did not do it because of this conditionality We see the reconciliation as one of the most important business that we have in the region And so my president went twice to Sabrinica. He didn't do it as a marketing trick. He did it through a heartfelt and also Real politic point of view We will not be able as a Serbian people as a Serbian society as a Serbian state to be successful if we don't have reconciliation with Bosnia That's why also the resolution in our parliament last March did not only have Apologies on this terrible crime. It was also a place where we affirmed the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Zygóvina as One of the main elements of our foreign policy We are against the breakup of Bosnia We are against the breakup of Macedonia We are against the breakup of Serbia and we're against the breakup of Kosovo. We are against all breakups We support the territorial integrity of all countries. We expect others to respect ours And there is no valid reason why Serbia should be the only Democratic country first world war a full member of the UN to be broken up against its own will and yes with Ireland we have this difference and Just half an hour ago. We had a very interesting discussion about How maybe the good Friday agreement would have some lessons for us power sharing Making sure that even as some MP said after 700 years of conflict and blood There was a capacity to face the real situation and to see also the other side of the problem We see the Udi as a way to look at only one side of the problem One reality, which is the Albanian reality of Kosovo But then ignoring the other reality, which is Serbian And so if there are today barricades in the north of Kosovo, it is because there is Also people who do not consent by being ruled by Pristina in the way that Kosovo Albanians didn't consent to be ruled by Belgrade So the solution is to find a settlement a Settlement in which everybody in the Balkans everybody in Kosovo will feel secure and we see a future for themselves So this is why in September of last year we backed together with Ireland and all the members of the European Union All that recognize but also the five non recognizers of Kosovo a Beginning of a dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina Then all institutions in Kosovo started to fall down the president resigned the prime minister resigned their elections Then a new president was elected and after a few days he had to resign There was a new president and then in March finally we started the dialogue. We waited seven months for it to start Some progress was made and then in July and fortunately after an embargo there was Forcible one-sided attempt to change the reality on the ground in the north of Kosovo By sending the shock troops to Rosu and transporting Without this being negotiated and agreed upon with the local Serbs As in Belgrade or the international community and I can tell you that it was done without the knowledge of many European and other countries to try to impose a new situation on the ground This is actually what has led to this tension and all along because it is of course easy To commit to peace when things are peaceful my present in the middle of this crisis said Serbia will not return to force and And politically this is not necessarily the easier way, but this is our policy and We believe that after this attempt even those who maybe thought that there is some I would say Potential in that type of approach have to realize that you cannot Pretend to facilitate trade and then lead us to a situation where there are barricades barbed wires and bullets flying That's not the way forward and maybe some had as an idea to go the same way on the tribunal in the north of Kosovska Mitrovica or maybe to ask for people who actually are not sharing typically our political stance. I'm speaking of the Leaders political leaders of the Serbs in the north of Kosovo But nevertheless one has to admit that they have a legitimacy. They have been elected by people So there are no Paral institutions in the north of Kosov as some people say in the sense that there is a need to be parallel to something What you have in the north of Kosovo is Serbian institution that exists for dozens and dozens of years, which does continue And it will be a twilight zone to try to think that one can cancel the hospitals and the education and cultural aspects and the municipalities When trying to replace them by institutions that will not have Legitimacy that they will not have consent and indeed we're back again to the need to come back to the negotiating table and to a settlement This is why it's important to reconnect on the dialogue This is why it's important to act upon the proposal that Belgrade has made on how to man The so-called Gates one and 31 and I know I'm talking to a very sophisticated crowd And you know what I'm talking about those are the two Administrative points where there's an attempt to instill both you likes that is acceptable as long as it's neutral also with the Kosovo Albanian Customs our proposal is to have an integrated management with Serbian officials being present as well and I believe that the latest statements coming from Pristina Ogre and I have to be cautious because one should not be Optimistic until things really realize that next Monday in Brussels when the meeting takes place between The negotiators of Belgrade and Pristina under the auspices of Robert Cooper We might be getting really close or completely to the solution in order to unlock those two border those two Points and then to have blockade stopped and then to have trade flow again By the way Once the agreement on the customs times which was one of the elements of the dialogue was agreed on the same of September There were resistances by the Serbs in the north But in the end of the day when Pristina and Belgrade agree on something with the support of the European Union those agreements stick and On all the other border points There is a flow of goods and in fact the Serbian goods. There's about 400 million euro worth of Serbian goods placed on the Kosovo market. They're back They've been closed for for a boycott Some countries in the region sometimes a little bit clumsily Have tried kind of to push out the presence of brands that people in Kosovo know already for decades But that wasn't to be and that also shows that this reality economic reality is here with us to stay And so to sum up on the issue at hand before I move on to other topics maybe slightly easier To sum up on Kosovo Indeed as was the proven after 700 years I understand the conflict here in Ireland The only way forward is to have a settlement which recognizes that Sometimes there's a need to share power sometimes there's a need to combine in an original way to realities to legitimate goals on the same territory and I would say that that's definitely what Serbia wants We know we cannot join the European Union before the issue of Kosovo is settled the settlement cannot be for Serbia Recognizing the Udi Today or tomorrow you will not find a democratically elected leader of Serbia that will be signing on that dotted line But this does not mean that the solution is not possible And where we look forward is support from Ireland Yes, Ireland in particular because of this history And no parallel is perfect. I'm not saying. Let's have good Friday for the Balkans And I'm not saying let's have the two Germany solution 1972 for the Balkans And I'm not saying let's have the South Tirog for the Balkans. I'm not saying let's have the those islands where all islands were with sovereignty share between Finland and Sweden are necessarily applied, but there is ample Examples if one really looks forward and is trying to have a European compromise solution Rather than trying to have one nationalism win against another one next step Monday The board the the integrated management of the points reopening it coming back to the table Implementing and this week on Tuesday our government approved the enabling sub legislation for The civil registry agreement that was reached. We will do more this week And then demonstrate to Ireland and our European partners that we mean business We mean business when we say we would like to through this dialogue So firstly everyday issues including those which are in the opinion, you know that in order to get Beginning of the negotiations. There's issues about energy Telecom mutual recognition of diplomas and a couple of other things But actually our goal is then is to move on to even more sensitive territory and to make sure that everybody has a European future in in the Balkans now about the region you mentioned Boston has a going I Already discussed a bit about Boston has a going up through the human aspect because that one should not be lost We like the same music We the same Chewabchichi People again anti-intermarry Singers cross borders TVs are ever more regional and People visit each other more and more on the political level Serbia is a co-signature and a guarantor of the Dayton agreements Serbia is Committed to the territorial integrity of Bosnia Herzegovina and will not support any move trying to break it up Serbia the same time Is committed to making sure that any changes in the makeup of Bosnia Herzegovina is agreed by all three communities The attempts that we have seen maybe from time to time To try to use the leverage of some parts of the international community To change the makeup of Bosnia Herzegovina very specific state. Let's face it Are doomed to fail unless They are preceded by an agreement by the three communities We cannot have it both ways having a democracy and then having Political leaders that are elected by those communities and then trying to refuse them legitimacy in order to negotiate What is actually their everyday life and of the people who elected them, which is the functioning of Bosnia Herzegovina? There's no doubt That not everybody within Bosnia Herzegovina sees eye to eye on how Bosnia Herzegovina should function But the only way forward is again to find a Way forward and Serbia really looks forward to the formation of the Bosnia Herzegovina government Because we hope that that country also will be able then to deposit its letter of Asking a candidate status to be granted and we were very happy When Bosnia Herzegovina one year after Montenegro Serbia and Macedonia was allowed to have a visa free for their citizens And I would like to remind you that one of the things we heard because of this lingering doubt about what the real intentions of surveys So people said we will watch you. We don't want you to use the visa free travel of Serbia to be leveraged on Bosnia Let me translate in English We don't want you to give passports to Serbian Serbs in Bosnia We want Serbs in Bosnia to be able to travel free visa free with their Bosnia Herzegovina passport and that's okay with us This is completely Logical with our policy and the dual citizenship between Serbia and Bosnia is limited to a few hundred people so sometimes we hear from Maybe some other politicians in the region that Belgrade is trying to destabilize Sarajevo through Banja Luka What may I just not putting into question the creation policy toward Bosnia Herzegovina just to remind you to the fact that Crots in Bosnia vote for the election for the Croatian president Serbs from Bosnia do not vote to elect a Serbian president Crots from Bosnia vote to elect people in the Croatian parliament Serbs in Bosnia do not vote for to elect people in the Serbian Parliament all crats in Bosnia received creation passports 2,400 Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina out of two 1.5 million have received a Serbian passport. So Serbia Neither Croatia are trying to destabilize Bosnia and in fact the improvement in the relations between Serbia and Croatia is a very positive development for the stabilization of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Of late after the elections of last year, Mr. Bakir is at Begovic having been elected as a as a leader of the Bosniaks He also made several statements for the need for compromise and for way forward and My president Boris Tadich who by the way Cracked a little joke when he met the three Members of the collective presidents of Bosnia Herzegovina in Sarajevo He said hey, I'm the only one to be born in Sarajevo here because he was born in Sarajevo actually and This is this is the Balkans. I'm half Montenegro Boris Tadich his father is from Serb from Montenegro. His mother is from Croatia We are mixed still and again, I see the mixing happening still happening and so I can tell you that for Montenegro, for instance There has been I would say all that has been a very difficult thing Because you have according to some estimates up to 200,000 Montenegro's living in Serbia I gave you just a few examples of people from Montenegro in Serbia and Serbs in Montenegro Adelaide's census in Montenegro in September 44.6% of people said they were speaking Serbian and about a third express themselves as being Serbs We are closed. Nevertheless Serbia was the first country to recognize an independent Montenegro after the referendum of 2006 and We look forward to Montenegro Hopefully at the December summit getting at the date and not a date for a date because that's yet another creative idea That has been toyed around currently For those who would like not a single country from the Western Balkans to start negotiations soon There are such countries in Europe by the way To have a real date with a day and a month for next year to start negotiations because After the reforms they have conducted we believe that they deserve it and now let me move to the fight against organized crime and corruption Before I finish with the economy knowledge economy One of the most important thing that happened over the last two or three years was that Serbia together with the other countries of the world in particularly United Kingdom in the United States and then With help from the region we broke the back of the most dangerous drug cartel of our region the sharish brothers They're either behind bars or on the run. We captured 2.5 tons of cocaine in Uruguay together with the DEA in Sokka I heard today in the parliament here that one of the Main concerns is heroin usage here in Ireland mind you by fighting and Being recognized by those international partners as a true partner in this fight We know that we're helping a common European cause to making sure that the Balkans are not a transit route for drugs for human Trafficking and other terrible things So we need to work together in order to take the stain out of the good name of the Balkans Is the mafia a balcony tradition? I'm going to I'm going to surprise you no Unlike maybe in other European countries There's never been a social tradition of parallel institutions Social services done by the mob to the people kind of trying to make up for the deficiencies of the state or trying to get allegiance For long-standing influence in society. No, there is organized crime. It's a direct Reflection of the conflicts of the 90s the wars the economic sanctions that led to trade being illegal To the smuggling of oil and cigarettes where people made huge amounts of money But those are the things that are being Currently severe and I think that the last two or three years have been seen a very big progress And that progress was to a large degree allowed by agreements We have signed in March last year with Croatia and then with Montenegro in September Which are showing that the Balkans are not a safe house for criminals That the old saying now that mafia's in the Balkans Collaborate way better than states is being turned upside down as it should that states collaborate much better In order to fight the common problem Does it mean that we have already taken care of organized crime and corruption? No But let me tell you The situation is way better There is no situation anymore. Let me illustrate how it looks to our people Let me so don't always living in Belgrade People would go and say you see this cafe It belongs to you know, or you see this nightclub You see this villa on the most luxurious part of Nobisad Well, the cafe today is United Colors of Benetton The nightclub is closed And the villa now is a social institution 350 million euro worth of assets have been first frozen and then seized when people condemned We don't take off-shoring as an answer when there's suspected Organized crime links. It is up to that a lawyer who is positing as a nominee To prove that the money is legitimate with which it was bought no Liechtenstein or other offshore will do It's too easy. We are not going to be taken for an offshore ride of course, it's easy said and done but I think we've made a lot of progress and If you ask our people is the corruption that will tell you yes, and I believe that in Serbia There is still significant problems with that But the situation is actually better than most people would have a feeling of but then then again as as as I would say also In this part of your will say the proof of that pudding is in the eating It's really in the proof of people being able to do business with us with anybody without anybody asking for A fee or bribe or trying to have their favorite consultant as those things go Now the economy. I'm really sorry that Ireland invested only 65 million euro to Serbia We received 17 billion euro over the last 10 years This year is going to be despite the crisis the ninth year in a row of us getting more than one billion US dollar of FDI This is more than 5% of GDP every year And after the first wave which was for non-tradables the telecom the trade the real estate Insurance and the banking of the last three years we have moved into more Irish territory tradeables using Serbia as a production site for exports and that's where our SAE is useful That's where the regional trading Arrangement of the Balkans that held up in terms of trade better than even our trade with the European Union over this crisis The fact that we have since the 90s an Agreement with Russia allowing Serbia to be the only non-CIS country to have a free trade zone with Russia an Opportunity that is being used unfortunately not enough by Irish companies But used by German Italian and other companies an advantage that will be losing when joining the EU But up until then if at least 50% of the added value is produced in the region not only Serbia You can export customs free to Russia a German Pharmaceutical maker Stada for instance is doing precisely that and many other companies as well So we have the same thing with Kazakhstan and after the visit of my president to Ukraine last week I hope we're gonna have the same thing with that country as well We have after discussion we had with the head of Michelin in Belgrade actually in Davos you mentioned that was That's what I was used is used for They told us that had we had a Free trade zone with Turkey they could expand the tire facility They have in Serbia with the within the border close to the border with Bulgaria. That's what we did We negotiated in one year a free trade zone with Turkey And now Michelin is doubling its capacity for that factor to serve that very big market Which is expanding quite fast. There are opportunities in Serbia in the Balkans Turkey for instance is finishing in 2013 a tunnel on the Bosphorus for freight trains This is going to open because right now you need to to put the train in two or three pieces on barges not easy With this of course, it's marketed as going from, you know, Berlin to Beijing Maybe not as far but at least to Turkey the Middle East and Central Asia That's definitely opening a new ecologically responsible in cheaper route for Certain types of trade and of course for Serbia. It's very important to be on the transit line That's why we're investing and that's why we'd like to have the opportunity in the connecting euro facility proposed by the European Commission for the multi-financial perspective 2014-2020 to be used for such pan-european projects as it were you might not know it but our Daniels strategy was made by an Irish consulting firm. This is some of the surprising ways of Of the European integration But with 588 kilometers of this biggest With the Rhine River of Europe We have a big stake in the new macro regional strategy of the European Union on the Danube and finally what we hope is with An attractive fiscal system and here we took more than one page from an Irish tax book And also invest in 400 million euro for science and technology infrastructure right now And looking at ways and I was with a mr. Cunningham was in Kyoto He's been advising Irish governments for 30 years more or less on education and knowledge I've been trying to download everything I could download from him for years now And I know that probably it looks really hard from a doubling today. I understand some students were in the streets yesterday but You know we look and we see the problem that happened with this speculation But believe it or not You are a model for us We look at the improvement at the education level the capacity to create a workforce that has the skills to work with some of the most advanced Companies in the world the way Ireland used its diaspora and the links with other countries and I can tell you if There are two countries that we are looking as a model right now. It is Ireland and Slovakia Ireland because of high-tech in Slovakia because of the automotive industry Congratulations to them without any tradition in that area. They are now the country producing most cars per head in the world And in two weeks We will be opening the first car factory to be opened in Europe in five years the Fiat factory in the city of Kraguev That's for a new model Going up to next year to 250,000 Cars per year. That's a 1 billion euro investment. So I hope I was not neither too long not too short Yes, there are two problems Those problems are much more tractable than the ones we had 10 years ago They are more tractable than once we had five years ago Because of the crisis. I'm afraid there are certain problems that have become bigger over the last few years Serbia has a debt to GDP of 44% of GDP and a budget deficit which is 4% and a fiscal responsibility law Taking us down to 1% in 2015. We're going to do that This being said we have a private debt and you mentioned before we came to this room that It's too easy and simplistic to separate public and private debt if something goes wrong with the private debt It goes wrong, but although I have many questions about rating agencies I have to report to you that standard and poor upgraded Serbia this year We're the only country in Europe that was upgraded From BB minus to BB and the OECD Upgraded us from a very low category 7 to category 6 and we're the only country in the world to have been upgraded by that organization So there is potential The region has the potential to be the fastest growing piece of Europe the way that central Europe was in the past decade This crisis has muddied a bit the map and the and the perspective But still the the basic elements are there. So Thank you very much for kind invitation and I'm more than happy to answer any any questions And I'll be here no less or no more open once we move into You know your house rules