The meeting between Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Ministers of Slovenia Borut Pahor and Croatia Jadranka Kosor kicked off in Zlatni breg (Golden Hill) villa near Smederevo, central Serbia, on Friday.

This is the second trilateral meeting between Tadic, Pahor and Kosor, while the first one was held in Slovenia's city of Ptuj in March 2010.

The Friday meeting is held in the villa which was once the summer residence of the Obrenovic dynasty.

Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Ministers of Croatia and Slovenia, Jadranka Kosor and Borut Pahor respectively, agreed in Smederevo Friday the three countries would jointly participate in third markets.

According to the joint statement adopted at the trilateral meeting, the cooperation refers to projects and sectors where the economic units from Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia will have the opportunity to combine their capacities.

The opportunities for the cooperation were found primarily in the construction sector, defense and security industries, automotive, wood processing and food industries, as well as in the fields of transportation and communications.

The communication should be carried out through co-chaired activities of the three countries' commission for economic cooperation and a working group for cooperation on third markets that will be established in the future.

The collaboration will include exchange of business and economic information of common interest and establishment of an ad-hoc consortium, the organization of joint representation in third markets, as well as the cooperation between diplomatic missions to promote joint projects abroad.

Given the common interests and experiences of our countries, they have a common interest to promote cooperation of economic entities, business associations and agencies in charge of economic cooperation abroad, when it comes to their joint presentation and the activities on the third markets, the statement says.

This joint statement provides the political framework for the cooperation, the document reads.

The participants also discussed the upcoming donors' conference dedicated to the refugees, as well as cooperation in the fight against organized crime.

Tadic pointed out that Croatia and Serbia face the problems of indicting war crimes suspects, noting that indictments cannot be withdrawn, but that Serbia and Croatia should cooperate in their revision.

Review of evidence and charges is necessary for the sake of credibility of the two countries, and in order that all those responsible for war crimes should face justice, Tadic said, and expressed hope that, in this regard, Croatia will follow in the footsteps of the Serbian judiciary.

As for the issue of succession, Tadic said that it was agreed that the matter be resolved in phases, but urgently.

Bilateral relations between Serbia, Croatia on the rise

Cvetkovic and Kosor told a joint press conference that their meeting looked at the economic cooperation between the two countries, their joint performance in third markets and state borders and refugee issues.

Today’s meeting shows that the bilateral relations between Serbia and Croatia are on the rise, Cvetkovic said, underlining that enhancement of regional cooperation is in the interest of both countries.

Cvetkovic stressed that the economic cooperation between Serbia and Croatia has been improving year-on-year, adding that there is still room for further advance.

The meeting also contemplated joint performance of Serbian and Croatian companies in third markets.

Croatia, Serbia and other countries in the region see the EU as their final destination. I would like to state that Serbia fully endorses Croatia’s EU path, Cvetkovic stressed, noting that he was assured that the Croatia feels likewise about Serbia.

As for state borders, Cvetkovic outlined that certain progress has been made, voicing his expectation that this issue will be resolved by this summer and will not pose an obstacle on both countries’ EU path.

Kosor noted that Croatia will endorse Serbia and all other countries in the region on there path to the EU, as this is a precondition for prosperity, peace and stability in this part of Europe.

She said that there is potential to boost the cooperation between their countries in the remits of construction, food and car industries.

We also discussed the issue of missing persons and refugees, Kosor observed, adding that these topics should be the starting point of all official talks between Belgrade and Zagreb.

Kosor announced a donors’ conference in the second half of 2011, to collect aid for refugees.

The two prime ministers announced a regional conference in which justice ministers, prosecutors and respectable lawyers from Serbian and Croatia will participate to resolve the issue of wanted notices for war crimes perpetrators.