SERBIA: Đurić: Stability and a Forward-Looking Approach Are Key for Serbia and the Region

Serbia - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Marko Đurić said today in Pržno, Montenegro, following the Berlin Process Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, that stability and a forward-looking approach are key for Serbia and the region, emphasising that this was also the central message of his address at the meeting.

Minister Đurić underscored Serbia’s commitment to regional cooperation, while noting that

the country is also a driving force behind the region’s economic development, having recorded growth of 3.8 percent last year, compared with 0.3 percent in the euro area. According to Đurić, Serbia can therefore make a significant contribution to Europe’s development, while its central position in the Balkans means that there can be no European future for the region without a European future for Serbia.

Đurić said that his address had been focused on the future, but that, regrettably, not all participants had adopted the same approach. He stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković had sought, in the closing days of his election campaign, to use the Berlin Process Summit to level accusations and insults against Serbia and its elected officials and to portray the country as an inheritor of war crimes and intolerance and as a state focused on the past. Đurić added that he had responded to such an approach in a dignified and civil manner, expressing his conviction that such a position did not enjoy the support of the majority of citizens or political actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He emphasised that Serbia, as the region’s leading economy in terms of its growth rate and a country occupying a central political position in the region, will have a key role to play in the period ahead. He recalled that Serbia had demonstrated at previous Berlin Process summits that European integration, regional stability and economic development lie at the heart of its policy.

Speaking about European integration, Đurić said that the region needs more Europe now, above all in practical terms — so that citizens no longer have to wait for hours at border crossings, goods can move across borders more swiftly, and the issue of roaming within the region can be resolved. He recalled that Serbia accounts for 57 percent of the regional economy and that President Aleksandar Vučić had previously set out a vision for integrating the entire region into the Schengen Area and the Single Market, arguing that this should not have to await the completion of the European Union’s complex financial and institutional procedures. Đurić added that he had heard similar approaches from several officials at the meeting, noting that the participation of France, and particularly the presence of the German Minister, had been significant for today’s discussions.

With regard to the Belgrade–Pristina dialogue, Đurić stated that representatives of Pristina had sought to divert attention from the situation of the Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija by raising the position of Albanians in Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac, stressing that no such parallels could be drawn. According to Đurić, Serbia has for an extended period witnessed a deterioration in the collective, political, economic and other rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. As the latest example, he cited the annulment of the mandates of Serbian judges and prosecutors who had previously resigned and who, following consultations and coordination with Belgrade and the European Union, had sought to return to their positions.

Đurić stressed that Serbia would not allow the situation of the Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija to be pushed aside. He announced that he would raise the issue again during the continuation of the meeting in the form of a working lunch, where discussions were expected to address the challenges facing the Serbian population, as well as their position and rights.