EU countries to abolish visa requirements for citizens of Serbia prior to 2008

Minister of Finance of Serbia, Mlađan Dinkić, announced that, as the result of realization of "Plan plus", it was expected that Serbia would significantly reduce its foreign debt by the end of 2006 and that there would be space in budget for even bigger investments in infrastructure and quicker development.

- "Plan plus" should be realized starting from Autumn if the negotiations with EU are continued in the meantime. Then the first steps toward reduction of the visa regime for students and scientists are expected, while total abolishment of visa requirements for all citizens could take place in 2008 - said Dinkić.

He added that, already next year, Serbia would have access to pre-admission funds of EU, which would be additionally enlarged once we became the country candidate.

- Europe has confidence in the future development of Serbian economy and it is encouraged by bigger and bigger foreign investments in Serbia. It is estimated that the foreign investments in Serbia in 2006 should reach the amount of 3.5 billion USD – Dinkić explained.