September 12 (SeeNews) - Serbia hopes to become a permanent member of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) by the end of this year, prime minister Ana Brnabic said.
Serbia has been an associate member in the pre-stage to membership since 2012 and is ready to become a permanent member, Brnabic said in a statement on Tuesday.
The government intends to invest about 60 million euro ($69.5 million) in the next three years in infrastructure and projects that encourage the use of modern technology and innovation, Brnabic said during an official visit to the headquarters of CERN in Geneva.
CERN was established in 1954, and the former Yugoslavia was among the 12 founding states. Today, CERN has 22 permanent members from Europe and employs 2,500 scientists.
The organisation's main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research.
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