Serbia, US relations improved

Zoran Zivkovic

Belgrade, Feb 13, 2004 - Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic and Assistant US State Secretary for South and Central Europe Kathy Stevens agreed at a meeting on Friday that political and economic relations between the two countries have improved over the past three years.

Stevens said the reforms that the Serbian government has been carrying out in the past three years have been very successful. She expressed the hope that a stable government will be formed soon, made up of the democratic bloc parties, which will continue with political and economic reforms, reads a statement from the meeting.

Zivkovic and Stevens said that building democratic institutions, Serbia-Montenegro's integration into Europe, cooperation with The Hague tribunal, addressing the problem of Kosovo-Metohija in accordance with the UN Security Council's Resolution 1244, further privatisation, and attracting fresh investment should take priority in the work of a new government, the statement added.