On 8 October, an exhibition entitled “We, at your place – 50 years of life together” opened at the Dusseldorf city hall. The exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of the Agreement on the employment of citizens of the then Yugoslavia.

The exhibition was opened by Mayor of Dusseldorf Friedrich Conzen and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Toncev.

Speaking at the event, the State Secretary emphasized the historic importance of the exhibition as a symbol of the significant role played by “guest workers” in strengthening ties between the two countries. It was underlined that our citizens had integrated well into German society, and as such they had been a kind of bridge between Serbia and Germany. The State Secretary stressed that it was important for the expatriate community to maintain Serbian culture and identity and foster ties with the motherland. He underlined in particular that the two countries had intensified the reinforcement of ties and confidence between them, to which a major contribution was made through the mutual trust and continued dialogue between Chancellor Merkel and President Vucic.

The exhibition was attended by many German officials and representatives of the Serbian community living in FR Germany, the majority of whom are residents of the province of North Rhine-Westphalia. During his visit to Germany, the State Secretary took the opportunity to meet with representatives of the diaspora on the premises of the Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia, at the suggestion of Consul General Branislava Perin Jaric, who had initiated the staging of an exhibition dedicated to the Serbian diaspora in Germany.

On his visit to Dusseldorf, the State Secretary also got acquainted first-hand with working conditions in the Consulate General, this being one of R. Serbia’s diplomatic and consular missions having the biggest workload due to the number of the local Serbian community and the strong economic cooperation carried out between Serbia and the German province of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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On 9 October 2018, during an official visit to Düsseldorf, State Secretary Ivica Toncev visited the Government of the North Rhein-Westphalia province in Germany where he met with Serap Güler, State Secretary for integration at the Ministry for Children, Family, Refugees and Integration.

In the talks with his German colleague, State Secretary Toncev stressed that Serbian citizens were successfully integrated into German society, to the satisfaction of both parties. He also talked about a few concrete topics regarding the position of the Serbs living in North Rhein-Westphalia which is currently home to 70,000 Serbian citizens, although unofficially this number is well over 100,000.

The State Secretary underlined that there was a need for a more synchronized cooperation on the engagement of Serbian language teachers in supplementary schools in this province. In this connection, they noted that the lector from Cologne should take a more active part in the teacher selection process. The fact that there are 16 Serbian Church municipalities in NRW province bringing together the majority of Serbian expats was also stressed.

The two State Secretaries also discussed the „brain drain” issue and immigration of Serbian citizens to Germany. It was said that Serbia wanted intense cooperation with Germany but that it could not be benevolent in relation to the huge brain drain of experts from Serbia, who are educated in Serbia and later on move to the Western European countries like Germany, leaving behind gaps on the Serbian labour market. The State Secretary therefore suggested that arrangements needed to be made which would undoubtedly ensure the exchange of experts on the market, but that would also vouch for their return to Serbia where they would continue their work, especially bearing in mind that Serbia recorded a significant economic growth and an expansion in IT and construction sectors. It was for this reason that State Secretary Toncev stressed that Serbia could not afford a huge brain drain of experts educated in their homeland and expressed his hopes that Germany would bear this in mind in its further labour market policymaking.

The interlocutors noted that the Serbian diaspora in Germany was highly integrated from the point of view of interior affairs and that the crime rate pertaining to the Serbian population in the province was very low, having dropped from 4% to 2% over the last couple of years, according to the data provided by the provincial police.

The discussion between the two officials was a friendly and constructive exchange with a view to having a good quality and even better integration of the Serbian community in the Province. In this context, State Secretary Toncev asked Mrs. Güler to find ways of providing additional and more adequate facilities for Serbian clubs which are around twenty in North Rhein-Westphalia.

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia hosted a briefing for representatives of diplomatic missions from both European and Asian countries and for delegations of international organizations in the Republic of Serbia, ahead of an international conference “Euro-Asian Energy Security Forum”, scheduled to take place between 26/27 October 2018. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Mining and Energy, Belgrade University Faculty of Security Studies and the Energypact Foundation will co-organize this international event.

The briefing was held by the Acting Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Security Policy, Ambassador Branimir Filipovic with the attendance of representatives of other co-organizers: Professor Dr. Vladimir Cvetkovic, Dean of the Faculty of Security Studies, Ms. Jasmina Hadziabdic, Special Advisor to the Minister of Mining and Energy in charge of international cooperation and Mr. Aleksandar Dimitrijevic, President of the Energypact Foundation.

The focus was on the activities carried out so far in preparation of the conference aimed at getting together governmental sector representatives – from the domain of foreign affairs and energy, companies and other business circles, academia and civil society from countries belonging to the regions of Europe and Asia.

The conference on day one is envisaged to be opened by Minister of Mining and Energy of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Antic, while First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic is due to give the keynote speech on day two. The panels will consider a number of subjects pertaining to the modalities of energy and other forms of cooperation in the Eurasian space, owing to the participation of eminent panellists from the invited countries and international organizations, and the current energy security issues in the said space, which can contribute to a better understanding of different aspects of energy security, ranging from foreign policy to development, while seeking the best model for international cooperation at different levels.

The upcoming conference aims to launch the process of gathering key international actors, which would result in a series of follow-up conferences in other countries in the Eurasian space, in order to encourage cooperation and understanding in Eurasia, in the context of several integrative processes in the region, to consider issues of joint interest, discuss different aspects of energy security, enhance the security of energy supplies and infrastructure and open a new channel of communication between the government and NGO sectors, in the interest of supporting stability and economic development.

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First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic attended a formal dinner addressing the participants of the 7th EU-SEE Summit “Sustainable recovery in the Balkans – Serbia in the lead role”.

The Head of Serbian diplomacy underlined this evening that the strategic choice of Serbia was membership of the European Union, and that it had been proven by major reforms Serbia had been implementing, by harmonization with the European standards, strong political will to reach a sustainable compromise with Prishtina and regional cooperation promoted by Serbia.

The Head of Serbian diplomacy reminded the invitees that the EU Commission Enlargement Strategy defined 2025 as an indicative date for Serbia’s accession to the EU and recognized it as a country which, along with Montenegro, had gone the farthest on its European integration path.

„The document opened up a new perspective for the countries in the region and it is important to seize the opportunity that has arisen”.

He noticed, however, that the present moment was characterized by the challenges facing the European Union itself, which could influence the European integration process of the countries in the region, referring in particular to the migrant crisis, the upcoming MEP elections, reform of EU institutions, Brexit, etc. Nevertheless, he stressed that this should not be an excuse for us not to work even more intensely on our own reformation.

„The progress achieved by the countries in the region is a significant one and we cannot allow for it to be endangered as a consequence of possible unforeseen political movements within the EU and its surroundings”, said the Minister, adding that it was important that the member states be clearer and more decisive in the messages they sent to the candidate countries and their citizens.

He underlined that strengthening regional cooperation was a complementary process to the EU integration process, as well as a mechanism contributing to reconciliation and giving a new impetus to development. To illustrate the significant results achieved so far, he mentioned the opening of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office in Tirana, the Treaty Establishing the Transport Community in Belgrade, which should start its work by the end of this year, Chamber Investment Forum and the official launching of the Western Balkans Fund. He reminded that the Serbian government had undertaken a lot in the field of infrastructure, digitalization, energy, trade… and reiterated that for Serbia the highway Nis-Prishtina-Merdare-Tirana-Durres was a key priority, along with the reconstruction of rail infrastructure.

„For many years, the Balkans was a symbol of war, societal division, there are even examples of derogatory use of the name in some foreign languages, for example saying that balkanization cannot be permitted in their area… It is a question of a relative nature, whether the epithet does us justice. I think we are better than what others see us”, said Dacic.

He also noticed that Ambassadors from many countries which often waged wars against each other and had clashing attitudes were this evening seated together, and that this was an example for our region to follow and to speed up, instead of often be guided by the expression „one step forward, two or three steps back”.

Minister Dacic said also that Serbia supported all the countries in the region on their path to joining the EU and that it rejoiced over the success of each of them, because there are more things bringing us together than keeping us apart. He would like for 2025, the year which does not seem so far away, not to be an accession date constantly postponed.

„It is important that the region shows maturity, and that the past which we often interpret in opposing ways, and which cannot be erased, does not pose an obstacle, but rather be a motivation to step forward into the future.”

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