Raffarin, Blair congratulate jubilee of modern Serbian state

Belgrade, Feb 15, 2004 - Prime Ministers of France and Great Britain Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Tony Blair sent letters of congratulations to Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic on the 200th anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising and creation of the modern Serbian state.

In his letter of congratulations, Raffarin expressed assurance that Serbia is capable of coping with the challenges it is faced with at the present.

Serbia enjoys France's full support on its way of reforms which were launched by the democratic change of power in 2000, Raffarin wrote, stressing that Serbia is encouraged in its legitimate struggle to join the European Union together with Montenegro.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair congratulated his Serbian counterpart Zivkovic the jubilee of the First Serbian Uprising and the creation of the modern Serbian state, and expressed thanks for the invitation to attend the celebration.