Diplomație economică
Moldova Invest in dialogue with E.S. Stefan Tomašević, Serbia’s Ambassador to Romania
The bilateral relations between Serbia and Romania are characterized by a long history with close cultural, political, and economic ties, significantly contributing to the shaping of their current diplomatic relations
Romania and Serbia established diplomatic relations in April 1879, at the level of legation. On January 1, 1939, the legations were elevated to the status of embassy. Bilateral diplomatic relations were interrupted on May 13, 1941, and were re-established on January 24, 1945, initially at the level of diplomatic representation and then upgraded to embassy status on March 1, 1956.
Since 2020, H.E. Stefan Tomašević has served as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to Romania. In our interview, H.E. provides information about the cooperation between cities and counties in the two countries, mentioning cross-border projects and highlighting the importance of this type of collaboration for regional development.
In the economic domain there is considerable untapped potential for bilateral investments between Serbia and Romania, focusing on sectors such as the food industry, metallurgy, automotive, and chemical, a topic discussed during the interview.
H.E. Stefan Tomašević: “Serbia and Romania have demonstrated a high degree of solidarity and friendship, with good neighborly cooperation in the most challenging situations possible”
H.E. Stefan Tomašević highlighted the progress made by Serbia in the European integration process. He also emphasized that the Republic of Serbia is open to sharing its knowledge with the Republic of Moldova in the European integration process and aims to advance cooperation in various sectors.
You became the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to Romania in 2021, a period marked by a pandemic and war. Please provide us with a retrospective of your activities over the past 4 years.
Indeed, I arrived in Romania just a few weeks before the outbreak of the coronavirus-caused pandemic, and it is also true that, unfortunately, a war erupted in the vicinity shortly thereafter, which certainly brought certain difficulties in terms of the usual functioning and activities of the Embassy.
However, I can proudly emphasize that we have succeeded in our intention to bring Serbia and Romania even closer in many areas of cooperation. Here, I refer to economic, cultural, scientific collaboration, and many others. Specifically, during the pandemic, when I started my term, Serbia and Romania demonstrated a high degree of solidarity and friendship, with good neighborly cooperation in the most challenging situations possible, reciprocally donating vaccines, medical equipment, and medicines when needed. The entire history of good neighborly relations between Serbia and Romania obliges us to work even harder to consolidate and advance them.
The two governments, from Belgrade and Bucharest, will collaborate for diplomatic and financial support of investment projects related to transport at the common border between Romania and the Republic of Serbia, especially for the construction of the Timișoara-Vârșeț-Pančevo highway by 2025. What does this collaboration entail? Are there other joint projects planned between the two countries?
Certainly, the construction project of the highway between Timișoara and Belgrade is one of the most significant infrastructure projects between Serbia and Romania, aiming for better road connectivity and faster transit on the crucial European and international corridor. Currently, the feasibility study and regularization plans are underway, after which we hope the highway will be constructed very soon.
I can proudly say that I participated in Timișoara, in 2022, at the signing of the memorandum regarding the construction of this highway. This project, initiated 8 years ago by the current President of Serbia, who was then Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić, as part of a vision for a well-connected region, will undoubtedly contribute to an increase in visits between the two countries, their trade exchanges, and attracting investments.
In front of us, there are also other important strategic projects in the energy sector, which must be mentioned, such as the gas interconnector on the Mokrin-Arad route, the construction of the reversible hydroelectric power plant Iron Gates 3, as well as the overhead power line Pančevo-Reșița.
Please provide us with an up-to-date overview of Serbia’s progress in the EU accession process
The objective of the Republic of Serbia in foreign policy is to achieve full membership status in the EU, and Serbia is very committed to this end, as reflected in the reforms made in various areas, such as justice, market economy, education, healthcare, infrastructure. If a comparison were made between Serbia and other EU candidate countries, as well as EU member states, it would be concluded that Serbia has made significant progress, representing a developed country with great growth potential.
I will present just a few examples relating to the most important parameters which, figuratively speaking, represent the identity card of this country in the fields of healthcare, road infrastructure, and employment. In 2012, Serbia had an unemployment rate of 27%, today this percentage is below 9%. Also, over the last 11 years, several hundred kilometers of new highways and express roads have been built, and at the same time, several hospitals, clinical centers, and schools have been constructed and renovated.
It is important to emphasize the significant steps made in the field of digitalization and media freedom. However, after opening half of the existing chapters in the negotiation process with the EU, Serbia has been without concrete progress in this regard for over two years, considering all the objective difficulties faced by EU members: the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, budgetary problems, Brexit, and many other issues, but it is necessary to send a strong signal from that side that the EU enlargement process is still a priority, so as not to reach a deadlock that would have a negative impact on the enlargement process itself.
Do you think there are economic sectors where the potential for bilateral investments between our countries is untapped?
Foreign trade between Serbia and Romania is growing year by year and, if we analyze the past year, it amounted to more than 2 billion euros, but of course, it is still far from the real potential. There is immense space that needs to be utilized when discussing the continued promotion of well-known food products on both sides and when it comes to the trading of important raw materials from the metal, wood, automotive, and chemical industries.
In this regard, last year in Belgrade, there was a meeting of the two Chambers of Commerce from Serbia and Romania. In the coming period, at the next meeting, a memorandum of cooperation between the two Chambers will be signed, which will further strengthen economic cooperation, and commercial entities from both sides will be encouraged to collaborate and invest. Especially, the door is open for collaboration among companies in the construction industry, energy sector, and IT sector.
“The Republic of Serbia is prepared to transfer with great pleasure to the Republic of Moldova its experiences in the matter of European integration”
How do you evaluate the cultural and educational relations between Serbia and Romania over the last five years?
Collaboration in the field of culture represents one of the most important segments within bilateral relations. I would underline that in 2022, on the occasion of the visit to Romania of the Minister of Foreign Affairs from Serbia, a new collaboration agreement was signed between Serbia and Romania in the field of education, science, culture, media, youth, and sports.
In the past period, in accordance with our commitment to deepen cooperation in the cultural field, representatives in Romania have been invited where theaters and cultural-artistic ensembles from Serbia have participated, joint exhibitions have been organized, poetry evenings, as well as screenings of Serbian films, and it is notable that numerous cultural events are also expected in the future, aiming to bring Serbian tradition and culture closer to the Romanian public.
I would like to emphasize that many cultural institutions from both countries, such as national theaters, writers’ unions, film centers, etc., collaborate directly. Also, Romania was the special guest at the Belgrade Book Fair in 2022. In the coming period, institutional support will continue for the translation of significant literary works, training of students and scientific researchers, for recognizing the needs of national minorities to deepen their mother tongue, as well as for generally improving the conditions of learning in the languages of developing collaboration in numerous fields.
During my tenure, numerous initiatives have been launched to advance collaboration in the economic, education, and cultural fields. The Republic of Serbia is prepared to transfer with great pleasure to the Republic of Moldova its experiences in the matter of European integration, and our goal is the continued development of sectoral cooperation. In 2023, the Republic of Moldova hosted an important meeting of the European Political Community, a summit that brought together a large number of leaders, among whom was also the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.
Have you initiated collaborations with cities in Romania? Are there bilateral cooperation relations between localities and/or professional associations in Serbia and Romania?
Local and regional cooperation between cities and counties in Serbia and Romania exists and is continuously deepening. The best example of cooperation is represented by cities and counties in the border area on both sides of Banat, as well as in the Danube Gorge.
Numerous IPA cross-border projects are evidence of the diversity and quality of cooperation; some of these projects are strategic in nature and aim at strengthening institutional capacities, environmental protection, improving health policies, and bolstering the capabilities of border and customs police to prevent illegal migration flows, which has recently become particularly important for both Serbia and Romania, as well as for the EU. Our intention is for other counties and cities in Serbia and Romania to cooperate in the coming period, taking into account their similar characteristics and needs, as well as their potentials.
Professional associations from Serbia and Romania cooperate well, which represents another example where through additional commitment we can achieve significant results, especially in the tourism sector. With their extraordinary characteristics, Serbia and Romania have great potential to attract foreign tourists and should collaborate in this regard, by participating in tourism fairs and organized promotions of tourism potential. The best example in this regard is the Danube Gorge.
Moldova Regional Economic Forum
In the summer of 2024, the Center for Analysis and Planning of Regional Development together with the Suceava County Council and the North East Regional Development Agency will organize the second edition of the Moldova Regional Economic Forum – 2024. The format of the meeting will be oriented towards the regions of Southeast Europe. Ambassadors of partner countries with whom Romania has well-established extracommunity economic relations will also be invited.
To what extent is your country interested in developing specific relations with the regions of the countries of Southeast Europe and implicitly in participating in FERM 2024?
Cooperation in the Southeast Europe region is of great importance, and Serbia would be very pleased to respond positively to all those initiatives that aim to deepen and enrich this cooperation.
I can say that I will respond with great pleasure, if I receive an invitation to participate in the second edition of the Moldova Regional Economic Forum 2024 (FERM), organized by the Center for Analysis and Planning of Regional Development, together with the Suceava County Council and the North East Regional Development Agency. The Bucovina area, where Suceava is located, is one of the most beautiful regions of Romania, which I have had the opportunity to visit, with beautiful nature and exceptional monasteries under UNESCO protection.
