First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic received today the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Surinam, Gillmore Hoefdraad, who is visiting the Republic of Serbia.

In a cordial conversation, the two sides confirmed the very friendly relations existing between Serbia and Surinam, expressing readiness to continue to work on promoting bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, agriculture, information, IT, youth and sports, education, including all other areas of common interest.

Today’s meeting particularly underlined readiness to further strengthen high-level political dialogue.

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First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic attended today an event commemorating the 15th anniversary of the crime committed against Serbian children in Gorazdevac, held in the “Kosmet Victims” memorial room.

On this occasion, Minister Dacic also signed a book of condolences in the memorial room.

“Viciousness of the terrorists who 15 years ago killed two boys in a mindless attack, seriously wounding four more child swimmers in the Bistrica River demonstrates the full magnitude of evil that Serbs have been facing in Kosovo and Metohija for decades.

We are confident that those who masterminded and carried out this heinous crime will not escape justice and that they will face the punishment they deserve”, wrote Minister Dacic.

Speaking before the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Persons in Kosovo and Metohija, families of the victims and the media, Minister Dacic underlined that this was one of the most horrific crimes perpetrated in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, noting that incidents were still frequent there and the reason why the Serbs who had survived and remained in their ancestral homes continued to fear for their safety even today.

The Minister called on the provisional institutions in Pristina and on the international community to take measures to bring to justice both the perpetrators of the Gorazdevac murders and their sponsors, stressing in particular that any crime was punishable regardless of the nationality of either the perpetrator or the victim and that there must be no impunity for crimes, particularly not at the heart of the 21st century Europe.

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First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic met today in Belgrade with Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova, who is on a visit to Serbia at his invitation.

At a joint press conference held after the meeting, Minister Dacic reiterated Serbia’s firm commitment to developing relations with the Russian Federation on the basis of strategic partnership, adding that historical, traditional close ties existed between the two peoples and countries and that their relations had always been nothing but friendly.

The Minister expressed his profound gratitude to Russia for the support it offered to Serbia in defence of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“Whenever Serbia needs assistance and support in the international arena, high-level representatives of the Russian Federation are the first we can go to. President Aleksandar Vucic has maintained regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin, so have I with my counterpart Sergey Lavrov, and we continuously inform them of all the issues and problems we are facing. Namely, our dialogue with Pristina, Serbia’s positions, including the firm position concerning non-recognition of the independence of “Kosovo”, further activity towards preventing “Kosovo’s” admission to international organizations, which we consider as roundabout attempts by “Kosovo” to join the UN system”, Dacic said.

The Minister also underlined that it was very important that there was a two-way line of communication with Moscow, allowing the two countries to share information, consult with and help each other.

“In this context, it is significant that we have continuity of top-level meetings. Later this year we expect President Putin to visit Serbia, to be preceded by a session of the Joint Committee on Cooperation co-chaired by myself, on the Serbian side, and by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Borisov, on their side. It is our expectation that a session of the Committee will be held a few weeks prior to the visit by President Putin.”

The Serbian Foreign Minister recalled that the current year marked the 180th anniversary of the establishment of Serbia-Russia diplomatic relations and stressed that Serbia would never threaten or undermine its brotherly and friendly relations with Moscow.

“I am personally very glad that Maria Zakharova accepted the invitation to visit Serbia, and this is yet another step further towards the strengthening of our friendly relations.”

Ms. Zakharova said that she was pleased with the visit to Serbia and thanked Minister Dacic for the invitation. She underlined that the visit took place in the framework of regular consultations held between the two Ministries, that she had consultations in the field of public diplomacy, as well as that a goal of the visit was also to bring the two countries and peoples closer together.

Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova underlined that Russia’s position concerning Kosovo was consistent and based on international law, the respect for Serbia’s sovereignty and its national legislation.

Minister Dacic personally thanked Ms. Zakharova for her readiness to respond to our queries and calls without exception, and lend us a helping hand in resolving contentious issues. Furthermore, he expressed deep gratitude for her exceptionally friendly attitude to our country and people, and for the support she extended to Serbia in her official capacity.

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First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic bid today farewell to the Spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, before her departure from Hotel Moscow and ending her official visit to Serbia.

Zakharova thanked Minister Dacic for the whole concept of her visit which was, in her own opinion, amazing.

“I am thankful to Ivica because he himself was responsible for all the arrangements that were so touching and unbelievable. I had the opportunity also to see the real Serbia which I would never have seen otherwise on an official visit”, said Zakharova.

She commented that normally when she made official visits she went through airports, stayed at hotels and attended official events, so that on all those occasions she had no opportunity to see the true face of a country.

“I saw Serbia, the real and vibrant one, and I saw how people live here”, she said adding that insofar as business meetings, exchanges and socializing in Serbia it was extremely hectic that there were two rounds of consultations instead of only one scheduled.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized even a second round of consultations last night on issues of a technical nature. We could have met only once, but it was so interesting that we decided to meet twice”, commented Zakharova.

According to her, Guca trumpet festival “is a big festival, a huge event that thrills and inspires, a combination of modern and traditional attracting younger generations”.

Zakharova, who over coffee and a Moscow cake with Minister Dacic let the press in on a little secret that visitors at Guca came to her saying that they also wanted to hear Russian trumpet players at the festival.

“They told me that they would like to host the Leningrad group, and I immediately got in touch with Sergey Shnurov who said to me that this was an interesting idea and that he would try and organize it next year”, Zakharova added by recalling that the Leningrad group had trumpeters on its band and that Shnurov could make a good competition with Serbian trumpeters.

Ivica Dacic expressed thanks to Zakharova for the visit which, as he put it, was of a working nature and took place in the context of political consultations on cooperation plans between the two Ministries.
“Working consultations were held in the field of public diplomacy in the broadest sense that is led by Ms. Zakharova at the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation”, stated Dacic.

He said that the Zakharova visit was given great attention in the media and that it contributed to good relations between the two states and two peoples.

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