Political relations
Political relations in the last decade have been characterized by an intensive dialogue and Austria's commitment to Serbia's rapid progress in European integration, which is the policy that Austria advocates in principle towards the Western Balkans.
Serbia and Austria nurture an intensive and continuous political dialogue:
- The President A. Vučić visited Austria on 7 July 2023, on the occasion of the third Trilateral Summit with Austria and Hungary on migration. In his capacity as the President of the National Assembly, I. Dačić visited Austria on 10 and 11 June, 2021. Prime Minister A. Brnabić participated at the Austria – Western Balkans Summit on 18 June, 2021 in Vienna. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs I. Dačić paid a bilateral visit to Austria on 22 March, 2023. On the Austrian side, President of the Republic of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen visited Serbia on 17 and 18 October 2018, accompanied by a large economic and scientific-cultural delegation. President of the National Council W. Sobotka visited Serbia in May 2023. Federal Chancellor K. Nehammer visited Serbia during the second Trilateral Summit on Migration in November 2022, while he was on a bilateral visit on 17 March, 2022. MFA of Austria A. Schallenberg was in Belgrade on 5 October 2022, where he participated, together with the MFA of Hungary and the MFA of the Serbia, in the trilateral forum on the issue of migration in Belgrade, while he paid a bilateral visit to Belgrade on 13 June, 2022. Meetings at the highest level are regularly held on the margins of international meetings.
Economic relations
In 2022, the total exchange of goods and services was at a record level and reached almost 2.6 billion euros.
Austria is an important economic partner of Serbia and represents one of the largest investors in our country. There are about 781 active business entities in the territory of the Republic of Serbia whose majority owners are citizens of Austria and legal entities registered in Austria, while over 450 Austrian companies are present in Serbia. A dozen of the most important Austrian banks, insurance companies and telecommunications companies currently operate in Serbia: Raiffeisen, Erste, Addiko, WienerStaedtische, Grawe, company Telekom Austria, whose investment in mobile telephony (VIP Mobil/A1) is the largest greenfield investment from Austria, the oil company OMV, as well as other large companies such as Swarovski, Henkel, Rauch, Knauf, Strabag.
Bilateral agreements
Consolidation of the contractual situation between the two countries was carried out in 1997. A total of 58 agreements are in force, some of which are:
- Agreement on cooperation in the field of culture, science and education, signed on 14 April 1972.
- Agreement between the FR Yugoslavia and the Government of the Republic of Austria on mutual encouragement and protection of investments, signed on 12 October 2001.
- Agreement between the Federal Government of the FRY and the Austrian Federal Government on Economic, Agricultural, Industrial, Technical and Technological Cooperation, signed on 12 October 2001.
- Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Austria on social security, signed on 26 January 2012.
- Austria has made a decision on amendments to the Decree on the implementation of the Law on Driving Licenses, which entered into force on 7 February 2017, which abolishes the obligation to take the driving test for Serbian citizens in Austria who have a driver's license of the Republic of Serbia.
Contact information
The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Vienna: http://www.vienna.mfa.gov.rs/
The Embassy of Austria in Belgrade: https://www.bmeia.gv.at/belgrad.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia – Department for Europe (DE), tel. 00 381 (0) 11 30 68 326/8274; e-mail: oev@mfa.rs.