Dacic meets with US ambassador to UN

NEW YORK - Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic met with US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield in New York on Wednesday to discuss the upcoming UN Security Council session on the work of UNMIK and development of Serbia-US bilateral relations.

The parties agreed that dynamic political dialogue and discussions by officials of the two countries represented an opportunity to exchange views on priority topics for development of bilateral relations, achieve greater transparency and strengthen trust, especially in a year marking 142 years of Serbia-US diplomatic relations.

Dacic expressed the hope US State Secretary Antony Blinken would visit Serbia in the period to come and that an exchange of visits at presidential level would also take place soon.

Speaking about the upcoming UN SC session, Dacic said UNMIK's work in the mission's full capacity was of great significance to Serbia in view of the current delicate situation in Serbia's southern province.

Speaking about the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Dacic reiterated Belgrade would retain a constructive position on an European proposal and implementation of an action plan aimed at further normalisation of its relations with Pristina, but also reiterated that Serbia had red lines it would not give up on, as noted by its President Aleksandar Vucic on several occasions over the past months.

He said the next high-level meeting of the dialogue would be held in Brussels on May 2 and that Vucic would be attending.

He noted that overall success of the European proposal depended on the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities as a commitment undertaken ten years ago by the signing of the Brussels Agreement.

Making that move conditional upon a review of Pristina's Council of Europe membership application is impermissible and Serbia strongly opposes such developments, Dacic noted.

Thomas-Greenfield called for implementation of Belgrade-Pristina agreements reached in Ohrid and noted that the US would continue to be actively engaged in providing support to Serbia and the so-called Kosovo in meeting their commitments with a view to achieving predictable and peaceful relations, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.