First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic stated that participation in the United Nations General Assembly was very productive for Serbia.
Minister Dacic underlined that President Vucic and he had dozens of successful bilateral talks with world statesmen.
During his visit to New York and participation in the UN General Assembly, the Serbian Foreign Minister had meetings with representatives of 54 countries, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President of the UN General Assembly Miroslav Lajcak, the new OSCE Secretary-General and the Head of the UNDP.
“Frankly speaking, in all the talks we had, my prime concern were the positions of the respective countries on Kosovo and Metohija, on the basis of which I can say that Serbia’s position is stable. All countries supported Serbia’s territorial integrity, pointing out that their position would not change.
Today, I ran into Pacoli too, who was strolling the corridors, incognito, since they are not members of the UN. He asked me why I said he was lying. However, I was only telling the truth, saying that Kosovo representatives were releasing erroneous information, to serve their internal political purposes. Stating, for example, that Mauritius would recognize Kosovo. I immediately contacted the Prime Minister of Mauritius, with whom we have good contacts. Serbia supported Mauritius regarding their own territorial integrity, and joined their declarations and resolutions in the UN. He said, during our conversation, that their position was not going to change.
I can sum up our attendance of the General Assembly by saying that we have duly benefited from it. We had talks with representatives of major states.
I am particularly pleased that we talked to representative of countries which have not recognized Kosovo’s independence, and that their position will not change in the period ahead. We must continue to work on this issue and be ready to face any voting in international organizations.
As regards UNESCO, although we have no knowledge of whether Kosovo will apply for membership or not, I can say, with a considerable amount of certainty, that Kosovo cannot defeat Serbia at the UNESCO General Conference, in November.
There are many bilateral agreements made with different countries, which President Vucic and I will have to honour, in the coming period. This includes visits, contacts, extending mutual support and, last but not least, continuing to build mutual trust. I am thinking of traditionally friendly countries which no one has visited, on our part, for decades; as well as countries which are seeking contacts with Serbia, offering business opportunities to Serbian companies.
Serious diplomatic efforts are ahead of us”, stated Minister Dacic, concluding his visit to New York.