Vucic: We will strongly protect Serbia’s position

The session of the United Nations General Assembly is an exceptional opportunity for the voice of the “Western Balkans to be heard stronger and better”, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić after the numerous meetings he had on his first day in New York.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, who is in New York as a member of the Serbian delegation, also held several bilateral meetings.

“During the first day, on the sidelines of the general debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, I had bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Cyprus, Nepal, Armenia, Burkina Faso and the United Arab Emirates, with whom I discussed the further improvement of bilateral relations,” Dačić wrote on his Instagram profile.

He added that he used the meetings with colleagues from Hungary, Luxembourg, Palestine, Venezuela and Nicaragua, as well as the working breakfast with the heads of diplomacy of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Croatia and Slovenia, hosted by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, to exchange views.

Vučić said he would strongly defend Serbia’s position in his speech on Thursday.

“We started this morning at the UN. We are coming forward on Thursday and will strongly defend Serbia’s position. I am convinced that the citizens of our country will be proud of their leadership,” Vučić said in a post on his Instagram profile.

In the coming days, the Serbian president’s upcoming meetings are expected to focus on the situation in Kosovo and the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina after last week’s failed round of negotiations in Brussels.

Vučić will have separate meetings with UN Secretary-General Guterres and the European Union’s Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajčak.

He will also attend an informal lunch for Western Balkan leaders organised by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and the traditional reception for world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, hosted by US President Joseph Biden and the first lady.

Vučić is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with the presidents of South Korea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Suriname and other African and Asian countries, many of which have not recognised the independence of Kosovo. Lobbying against the recognition of Kosovo by third countries contradicts agreements brokered under the EU-backed Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process.

The Serbian President will address the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday and will also meet with European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič.

(Milena Antonijević | Euractiv.rs)