BELGRADE, September 13. /TASS/. Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly (unicameral parliament) of Serbia and Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marina Ragus pointed to the need of enhancing Russian-Serbian inter-parliamentary cooperation during talks with Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko.

"As the sides noted, in the near future the existing good cooperation between the parliaments should be further enhanced through interaction at the level of working bodies, it could be realized next month within the framework of the joint celebration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade in World War II. Ragus and Botsan-Kharchenko agreed that both countries will continue to provide mutual support in international organizations, primarily in the UN," the Serbian parliament's statement reads.

Following a meeting with Botsan-Kharchenko in late July, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced plans to work together on events marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazism and the liberation of Belgrade.

During the liberation of Belgrade from September 28 to October 20, 1944, 4,350 Red Army troops were killed, 14,488 others were wounded. The fatalities of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia amounted to about 3,000.

About 8,000 Soviet soldiers and officers were killed during the liberation of Yugoslavia. A total of 1.7 million people lost their lives during the occupation of Yugoslavia and during the liberation struggle in the country, more than half of them were Serbs. During World War II, Yugoslavia’s guerrilla movement played a substantial role in the fight against Nazism, drawing away dozens of Wehrmacht divisions.