Djuric: Serbian delegation's attendance of NATO summit was "powerful message"

WASHINGTON - Serbian FM Marko Djuric says Serbia is a country trying to rebuild its connections with the West and that a Serbian delegation's attendance of last week's NATO summit in Washington was a "powerful message."

"I'm here because I believe that it's in the national interest of Serbia," Djuric told US-based paper National Review in an interview.

He said he had travelled to Washington to communicate the message that Serbia wanted to "play a constructive role in regional and global politics with our small capacity" and to "refresh people’s image about Serbia, because most people last heard about Serbia during the 1990s, and not in a very favorable way."

Djuric said he had spoken briefly with US State Secretary Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the summit and that he had invited him to visit Serbia.

He added the focus of his discussions with White House and State Department officials had been on potential US investments in the energy sector.

He said a potential 1.7 bln dollar US investment in solar power would help Serbia diversify its energy supply as it was largely reliant on Russia in the sector.

He noted that Serbia had the right to continue to seek close ties with Moscow and Beijing while also pursuing EU membership and a strategic dialogue with Washington.

"The idea is focused on having Serbia as a modern country and as a full-fledged member of the European community," Djuric said, adding that Belgrade was committed to carrying out EU accession reforms by 2027.

He noted that Serbia's position on the war in Ukraine was "delicate."

"Just take a look at the map, and you’ll see that for Serbia, with its problems and legacy issues stemming from the 1990s, it’s not easy to take the course that we’ve taken," he said.

"We’re kind of in a delicate position. But regardless of that, we took a moral and legal stance which is based on the UN charter, despite the difficulties, despite the pressure that we are facing, and despite the geopolitical position we are in," he said.

"I want to underline that we deeply regret this horrible conflict. We want it to end as soon as possible. We have received hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine and offered various types of humanitarian assistance to the country, and we will continue advocating for the cessation of hostilities," Djuric said, noting that his first meeting as Serbia's new FM had been an encounter with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.