INTERVIEW KIMMO LÄHDEVIRTA, AMBASSADOR OF FINLAND TO SERBIA
Finland Can Assist Serbia In This
GREEN TRANSITION
Along with other Nordic embassies in Serbia and the Nordic Business Alliance, but also the Nordic Council of Ministers, Finland is sharing its vast expertise in digitalisation and the development of the IT sector and the circular economy, where Serbia is showing some promising results but also faces some tough challenges related to environmental protection.
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e’ve seen continuing dynamic political dialogue and a high degree of mutual understanding between Finland and Serbia over the previous few years, particularly in the context of Finnish support to Serbia’s European integration process. As such, our first question for Finnish Ambassador to Serbia Kimmo Lähdevirta was how much has this process has advanced since the period of your country’s 2019 EU presidency? “Being aware of all the benefits of EU membership, Finland is a strong supporter of Serbia’s EU accession and we hope it will speed up in the coming period. At the moment, the main reason the process is lagging behind is the lack of results in the field of the rule of law,” says our interlocutor. “We therefore encourage Serbia to concentrate on rule of law reforms, especially the fight against organised crime and corruption, media freedom and providing a safe environment for the work of journalists and civil society organisations. In addition, the outcome of the ongoing interparty dialogue, facilitated by EU mediators, is of great importance when one considers the dire need to increase trust in the electoral process in Serbia. All these efforts, regardless of how we name them, are essential for advancing the EU integration process.” The trade exchange between our two countries hasn’t been hit significantly during the pandemic, although it remains at a fairly low level. In your opinion, what’s the key to further progress? - There has been a positive trend in the trade exchange between Finland and Serbia year on year, even during the pandemic. However,
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Nordic Countries & Serbia 2021
there is still a lot of potential for trade growth. In my opinion, it is of key importance to raise awareness among Finnish companies about business opportunities in Serbia and vice versa. The Embassy of Finland has supported the sharing of knowhow in different fields that are important for improving the business environment in Serbia. We usually operate as
part of the Nordic team, by joining forces with other Nordic embassies in Serbia, the Nordic Business Alliance and the Nordic Council of Ministers. Direct, face-to-face contacts usually yield the best results, and thus we should work on creating opportunities where our people and companies can meet and start developing
