First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic attended today in Strasbourg the ceremony marking the 15th anniversary since the admission of the Republic of Serbia to the Council of Europe.

“The Council of Europe is one of the oldest and the only international organization bringing together all countries of Europe. In that context, 15 years later, one can note that we had huge benefit from the CoE membership, primarily with regard to the harmonization of our legislation, implementation and endorsement of different conventions, expertise in the area of human rights protection, rule of law and democracy, in the broadest sense of the word. The very citizens had benefited from the membership because of the competence of the European Court of Human Rights.

Following the assassination of Prime Minister Djindjic, Serbia obtained CoE membership with a view to consolidating democracy in Serbia and I believe that huge progress was made, particularly in recent years.

I had talks with CoE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland who appreciated very much the contribution of Serbia to the stabilization of the situation in the region.

I informed him about the ongoing dialogue with Pristina. The dialogue is very important for peaceful way of solving the outstanding issues. Mr. Jagland said that there were two problematic issues, Brexit, as regards the EU, and possible exit of Russia from the CoE. Serbia supports the efforts that Secretary General Jagland invested in finding a solution that would enable participation of all and survival of the CoE as the key pillar of the European institutional architecture.

We believe that admission of “Kosovo” to the CoE would constitute a direct violation of international legal order and of all statutory norms of the CoE and we oppose it. We hold the view that any kind of admission of “Kosovo” prior the institutional end of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina would pose a serious peril of the destabilization of the entire region.

One can see that the representatives of Pristina live in some kind of a world of their own and that they do not understand the reality around them. Most of international factors do apprehend that a compromise needs to be found. Also, Pristina keeps on saying that over 116 countries recognized “Kosovo”. I returned from Lesotho last night which revoked its recognition of “Kosovo”. Seven countries revoked their recognitions this year. By the end of the year the number will come down to less than 100.

Arguments of Pristina do not meet international support any longer and that is why I believe that Kosovo has no chance to be admitted to Interpol, bearing in mind that a huge number of countries changed their positions. It would be much better for them to stick to dialogue than to keep on trying in this kind of way to obtain membership of different international institutions”, the Head of Serbian diplomacy stated at a press conference.

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Statement by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic Serbia Ivica Dacic at a formal reception on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the admission of the Republic of Serbia to the Council of Europe:

“Secretary General Jagland,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,

It is my great pleasure to be able to address you today as we observe the 15th anniversary since the Republic of Serbia was admitted to the Council of Europe.

Serbia’s membership in the Council of Europe brought about significant changes in the country – from the implementation of conventions, dialogue with expert bodies and benefits from their expertise, numerous projects carried out in cooperation with the Organization, promotion of human rights protection, consolidation of democracy and the rule of law followed by fundamental institutional reforms. Suffice it only to compare the Serbia of 2003 and Serbia of today to become aware of these obvious changes.

However, it is the citizens of Serbia who have benefited and continue to benefit the most from our Council of Europe membership as the country progresses in its alignment with the Organization’s standards and, above all, through their access to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In this way, Serbian citizens were provided a better protection of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, while the ECHR rulings had a bearing on the changes made to the legislation, judicial practice and the activities of relevant authorities. The progress in this respect is reflected in the fact that Serbia is no longer among the countries with the highest number of complaints before the Court.

Taking into account that Serbia has complied with almost all obligations and commitments undertaken upon admission, and that it has entered the CoE Committee of Ministers’ post-monitoring procedure, we firmly believe that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) should decide to close the regular monitoring procedure at its next session.

Serbia is strongly committed to membership of the European Union as one of its foreign policy priorities. As it makes progress along its European path, Serbia continues to implement reforms related to the human rights field, democracy and the rule of law. Rest assured that we will harness all our potentials to have Serbia fully embrace core European values in all areas. As it has been the case in the past 15 years, the contribution and assistance of the Organization in this regard will be of invaluable assistance to us.

Serbia is committed to peace and further development of regional stability, as well as to the promotion of good-neighbourly relations and cooperation through dialogue. Resolution of all residual problems and misunderstandings in adherence to international law is an important element of Serbia’s policy pursued in the context of relations in the region, and this has already produced significant results – mutual relations have been promoted, thus immediately contributing to the European perspective of the region.

Serbia strongly opposes possible launching of procedure for the admission of “Kosovo” to the Council of Europe. Any potential request made by Pristina to this end Serbia finds unacceptable, as that would be in clear violation of fundamental legal principles relevant to membership in international organizations, of the Statute of the Council of Europe and UNSC Resolution 1244. Serbia believes that the CoE should continue its status-neutral engagement in Kosovo and Metohija.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
In a few weeks’ time we will mark hundred years since the end of World War I in which Serbia suffered great human and material losses. The hundredth commemoration is an opportunity for us to remind ourselves of the importance of European unity and of the prevention of divisions on our continent which in the past always led to tragic conflicts. It is therefore the obligation and responsibility of us all to overcome the differences and divisions through dialogue.

In the 70 years of its existence and various challenges notwithstanding, the Council of Europe, which came into being as a result of the aspirations towards ensuring the unity of Europe, has enabled the preservation of peace and stability on the European soil. The success and achievements of the Council of Europe are best reflected in the human rights protection system enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, which today represents the most advanced system of its kind at the global level.

Unfortunately, there is a lingering threat of new divisions that has shaken the foundations of the Council of Europe, one of the most significant pillars of the European institutional architecture. The developments at the recent October PACE session have revealed a huge gap and distrust between the two statutory bodies, which could undermine the very human rights protection system established in line with the European Convention. Serbia lends its support to the Secretary General in his efforts to solve the current institutional crisis and it stands ready to assume its share of responsibility, together with other member states.

I had the opportunity to be a member of PACE and I am currently a member of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which has given me a chance to understand even better the importance of the two bodies and of their good cooperation and communication if the goals of the Organization are to be reached. A prerequisite for such cooperation is the respect of the two bodies for their competences set forth in the Statute. I am grateful to the Legal Service for its detailed and clear analysis which should guide us past the untenable situation we have found ourselves in.

Respecting the opinion of the Legal Service ensures legal certainty which is at the heart of the rule of law.

As a member of PACE, I also had the opportunity to perceive the importance of PACE as a pan-European forum for dialogue. This is the reason I am personally convinced that all national delegations should participate, since the exclusion of any of them would imperil the unique character of the PACE and it would not be in accordance with democratic values.

I share the CoE Secretary General Jagland’s optimistic opinion that finding a solution for the perhaps deepest institutional crisis the Organization has ever faced is possible. My hopes are that the Council of Europe will emerge stronger and more efficient from it because, in the light of ever more complex challenges, we need it more than ever before. Serbia, as I have already said, will take its share of responsibility.

Thank you for attending this reception, and I would like all of you to come to Serbia on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of our admission.”

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State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nemanja Stevanovic has received today Parliamentary Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Kenji Yamada.

In the cordial talks, the two collocutors concluded that the relations between the two countries were intensified, substantive and multifaceted. The two sides asserted the readiness to further strengthen mutual dialogue, exchange visits on all levels and further connect the economies of the two countries.

Mutual satisfaction was expressed at the achieved results and the level of cooperation with an assessment that 2018 was a very important year for the relations between the Republic of Serbia and Japan. The year started in the best possible way in January with the historic visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Republic of Serbia which gave a strong impetus to further promotion of cooperation.

State Secretary Stevanovic reiterated his gratitude for the high level of solidarity that the Japanese people showed towards Serbia in the form of past donations and grant aid. He also underlined that support and solidarity were mutual and they constituted permanent asset in the further development of friendly relations between Serbia and Japan.

Following the meeting in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the signing ceremony for the Agreement on Japanese grant to demine the municipality of Bujanovac, with ITF Enhancing Human Security, was held.

The Agreement was signed by Ambassador of Japan in the Republic of Serbia Junichi Maruyama and Director of ITF Ambassador Tomaž Lovrenčič, in the presence of State Secretary Stevanovic and Parliamentary Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Yamada.

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The Group of diplomats from the SEEGROUP participating states (Southeast Europe Security Cooperation Steering Group), chaired by the Mission of the Republic of Serbia to NATO in 2018, is on a visit to Belgrade, from 16 to 19 October 2018.

SEEGROUP is an informal and flexible forum for security and political consultations on the topics of importance for the region of Southeast Europe, gathering representatives of NATO Members, partner countries in the region of the Western Balkans as well as NATO West European partners.

The SEEGROUP delegation attended the briefing in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 17 October, held by Head of the Directorate for NATO and Partnership for Peace Zoran Jovanovic, with the participation of Head of the Directorate for the Common Security and Defence Policy, Security Challenges and Arms Control Igor Kuzelka, Head of the Directorate for the EU Sectoral Policies Snezana Stojic and Coordinator at the Directorate for Neighbouring Countries and countries of Southeast Europe Goran Gvozdenovic.

The guests were introduced with details of partner cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and NATO, through the Partnership for Peace Program, based on the policy of military neutrality of Serbia, activities in the context of CSDP, security challenges and arms control, European integration process as well as the relations between Serbia and the neighbouring and countries of Southeast Europe.

Acting Assistant Minister, Ambassador Filipovic hosted a dinner on the same day, in honour of the SEEGROUP delegation, which was one more opportunity for the exchange of views on many issues of mutual interest.

During their stay in Belgrade, the SEEGROUP representatives had a meeting in the Ministry of Defence and will also attend the opening ceremony of the 8th Belgrade Security Forum.

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