"Serbia and US open strategic dialogue" Djuric: Relations are raised to this level for first time in history

Photo: Tanjug

Minister of Foreign Affairs Marko Djuric says that a decision was made in Washington this morning to start a strategic dialogue between Serbia and the United States, and added that the first session is scheduled for Friday, July 17.

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Djuric pointed out that for the first time in history, Serbia and the US are raising their relations to the level of a strategic partnership.

"This means that the US and the administration of President (Donald) Trump are sending a strong message not only to Serbia and our administration and our people, but a strong message to American institutions that Serbia is perceived as a partner and as a friendly country. This is something we have been working on for many years, something that, in a professional sense, is one of the more serious achievements for all our diplomats who fought for it, and of course for the Government and for all of us in Serbia," Djuric told RTS.

He added that at the invitation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he is traveling to Washington today, where he will participate in a summit on Thursday.

"But what will be happening on Friday is (making) diplomatic and, I would say, political history in relations between Serbia and the US. I think that the economy and citizens and the international position and reputation of Serbia will be additionally strengthened by this," said Djuric.

He thanked President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic for supporting the process.

"President Vucic has supported our efforts to improve relations with the US for years, and I am very happy and satisfied that I can announce this today," said Djuric.

Speaking about the importance of this strategic dialogue for the citizens and for the positioning of Serbia, Djuric said that the establishment of the dialogue places Serbia in the circle of countries that Washington has the highest level of institutional cooperation with.

"If we were to draw a parallel between relations with the EU and the US, this is 'the American cluster for Serbia' (reference to EU accession talks). This is putting Serbia in a completely different drawer," said Djuric, stressing that today Serbia is "in a situation in which not even (former) Yugoslavia was - to be officially recognized as one of the strategic partners of the US."

He assessed that the establishment of the strategic dialogue with the US is "a Serbian national interest that is important because of key national issues such as Kosovo and Metohija, the Serb Republic, and maintaining domestic stability".

"Last year, we enjoyed serious understanding from the administration of President Donald Trump for solving problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina and we managed to solve certain problems," said the head of Serbian diplomacy.

He pointed out that the strategic dialogue is also important for the economy and that it is a signal to investors. He cited Hungary as an example, which "made a quantum leap in its economy when it received the status of a strategic partner".

"Numerous American financial institutions, numerous American tech and other companies have started to use Budapest to operate towards Europe. This is a significant step for us," concluded Djuric.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)