First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic attended a number of bilateral meetings on the margins of the 71th Session of the UN General Assembly.
Minister Dacic met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, H.E. Ibrahim al-Jaafari. The interlocutors agreed that the bilateral relations were good and that they were not encumbered with any problems. They also agreed that there was significant room for the development of economic cooperation, to be further discussed during Minister al-Jaafari’s bilateral visit to Belgrade, which had been previously arranged. Minister Dacic used this opportunity to reiterate his gratitude for the principled position of Iraq concerning the issue of Kosovo and Metohija.
The Serbian Foreign Minister conferred with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Palestine Riad Al-Maliki. Minister Dacic apprised Minister Al-Maliki of the positive developments in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and confirmed that he would visit Palestine soon, as had been previously agreed. Minister Al-Maliki suggested that during the visit a joint business council be established, whose mandate would be strengthening of economic relations between Serbia and Palestine. He emphasised that Palestine was frequently compared to Kosovo in international relations, which was absolutely unacceptable.
Minister Dacic also spoke with his counterpart from Morocco, Mr. Salaheddine Mezouar. The Serbian Foreign Minister thanked Morocco for its position regarding the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, apprised Minister Mezouar of the progress in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and kindly requested from Morocco to remain consistent regarding the respect of principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty. The Moroccan Foreign Minister invited Serbia to take part at the highest level in the UN Climate Change Conference which is to be held in Morocco from 7 to 18 November 2016. In addition, he invited Minister Dacic to pay a bilateral visit to Morocco.
Minister Dacic met with the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights of the U.S. Department of State, Ms. Sarah Sewall. The main topic of the meeting was the migrant and refugee crisis. Sewall positively assessed the efforts that Serbia extended to helping refugees and to endeavours to reach a permanent solution. At the meeting, a number of other issues was also discussed, such as the civil sector activities, freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Under Secretary Sewall particularly underlined the importance of the fight against violent extremism and commended the joining by Novi Pazar of the network of cities connected in the fight against violent extremism, expressing the hope that other Serbian cities would follow.