Second day of Vucic's visit to Greece: Serbia and Greece sign declaration on strategic partnership

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic continued his official visit to Athens today, where he met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with whom he has been had close persnal and inter-party connections for years.

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2:00 pm - Serbian delegation ends official visit to Greece

The Serbian delegation led by President Vucic has finished its official visit to Greece, while in a post on Instagram, President Vucic thanked Prime Minister Mitsotakis for his hospitality.

 

 

 

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"Do skorog vidjenja u Srbiji! Hvala dragi prijatelju @kyriakos_ !"A post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Dec 11, 2019 at 4:48am PST

1:30 pm - Formal lunch for the Serbian delegation

Following meetings and public addresses, Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis hosted a formal lunch for President Vucic and the Serbian delegation.

 

 

 

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U čast predsednika Republike Srbije Aleksandra Vučića, predsednik Vlade Republike Grčke @kyriakos_ priredio je svečani ručak.A post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Dec 11, 2019 at 4:18am PST

1:00 pm - "An important task for Serbia is to always be with Greece"

 

 

 

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"Važan zadatak Srbije je da uvek bude uz Grčku, da čuva leđa Grčkoj, kao što sam siguran da će naši grčki prijatelji razumeti da mi uvek računamo na njihovu podršku i da smo sigurni da su nam leđa obezbeđena kada je Grčka iza nas. Živelo prijateljstvo Srbije i Grčke." 🇷🇸🇬🇷 - Potpisivanje Zajedničke deklaracije o uspostavljanju strateškog partnerstva Republike Srbije i Republike Grčke.A post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Dec 11, 2019 at 3:46am PST

"It is an important task for Serbia to always be with Greece, to have Greece's back, as I'm sure our Greek friends will understand that we always count on their support and that we are sure that our back is safe when Greece is behind us. Long live the friendship between Serbia and Greece," said the president of Serbia in a post on his Instagram account "Buducnost Srbije" ("The Future of Serbia").

12:20 pm - Vucic: Greece can count on Serbia's absolute support

Serbia fully supports the territorial integrity of Greece, both on land and at sea, the Serbian president said stressing that Greece will always be able to count on the absolute support of our country.

Photo: Presidency of Serbia

"This is an important day for Serbia, because after signing this declaration, we have put a seal on a centuries-old friendship that no one will ever be able to break. This agreement defines an obligation to intensify relations regarding security, exchange of experts," said President Vucic.

12:10 pm - Mitsotakis: Greece's position on Kosovo remains unchanged

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after the meeting with President Vucic that his country's position on Kosovo is unchanged.

Photo: Presidency of Serbia

12:00 pm - Declaration on strategic partnership between the two countries signed

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis signed a joint declaration today on establishing strategic partnership between the two countries.

Opening the session of the Serbia-Greece High Council for Cooperation, which preceded the signing of the document, President Vucic said that the declaration was very important and that Greece was only the third country in Europe with which Serbia has signed such a document.

11:00 am - Meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

The Serbian president has met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

After the bilateral meeting, they will co-chair the third session of the Serbia-Greece High Cooperation Council.

 

 

 

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Predsednik Republike Srbije Aleksandar Vučić sastao se sa predsednikom Vlade Republike Grčke Kirjakosom Micotakisom.A post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Dec 11, 2019 at 1:49am PST

The Joint Declaration on the Establishment of Strategic Partnership of the two countries and the Cooperation Program of the two governments in the field of education, science and technological development for the period from 2020 to 2022 will then be signed.

The declaration means establishing a number of common positions on the most important issues, mutual support on the most important issues for both countries and a range of other general political positions regarding the friendly and strategic relations between the two countries.

10:45 am - Serbian and Greek delegations meet

Serbian ministers, secretaries of state and assistant ministers had separate meetings with their Greek counterparts.

 

 

 

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Sastanak delegacija Republike Srbije i Republike Grčke predvođen predsednikom Republike Srbije Aleksandrom Vučićem i predsednikom Vlade Republike Grčke Kirjakosom Micotakisom.A post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Dec 11, 2019 at 2:23am PST

The Serbian delegation visiting Athens is composed of Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic, Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin, Education Minister Mladen Sarcevic and State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy Dragan Stevanovic.

10:30 am - Vucic to Greek media: We are ready to talk about compromise for the Kosovo problem

President Vucic said in an interview with the Kathimerini newspaper that Serbia is ready to negotiate a compromise solution to the Kosovo problem. He said that if somebody's idea is to come to Belgrade and say that we recognize Kosovo and Metohija as an independent country - that will not happen.

Asked about border corrections as a possible part of the solution to the Kosovo crisis, he asked a question of his own - what borders are being discussed: those recognized by China, Russia, Greece and Spain or those recognized by France, Germany...

When the journalists asked again about the territory swap scenario, President Vucic recalled that Serbia always sought a compromise and did not want to impose a solution that would be in the interest of only one side.

 

 

 

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“Da čuvamo leđa jedni drugima" - predsednik Vučić u intervjuu za grčki list @kathimeriniA post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Dec 10, 2019 at 10:34pm PST

"We are ready and open to negotiate about any compromise solution. Some mention other models, but aren't offering us anything specific," Vucic said, pointing out that he was grateful to Greece for not recognizing Kosovo's independence, and said Greece is "a country that protects international law, despite the pressure it has been exposed to."

"You will not hear any other requests from me except that we want the 100 percent taxes (imposed by Pristina on products from central Serbia) to be abolished. That is why we want to sit down, discuss this problem and try to find a solution," Vucic said in the interview he gave during his two-day official visit to Athens.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)