Dacic, Cohen: Time to return to positive agenda in Serbia-Israel ties

BELGRADE - The FMs of Serbia and Israel, Ivica Dacic and Eli Cohen, said on Wednesday in Belgrade it was time to consolidate Serbia-Israel relations and develop bilateral cooperation and a positive agenda in many areas, which they noted would benefit both countries and both peoples.

At a joint press conference, Dacic said Israel's decision to recognise the so-called Kosovo had impacted Serbia-Israel relations, and noted that it was time to invest maximum efforts to overcome all problems through joint efforts and find the best way to "reset" relations when it comes to that issue.

"The decision by the Israeli government to recognise Kosovo was detrimental to the relations because Kosovo is priceless to us... and, in that sense, we have constantly compared your attitude to Jerusalem to our attitude to Kosovo-Metohija," Dacic said, adding that maximum efforts must be invested to overcome those problems and remain committed to preserving a traditional friendship.

"It is time for us to commit to a positive agenda and try to reset our relations and develop them in many segments. Economic cooperation does exceed 100 mln euros, but that is a small figure compared to the potentials, and that is where great opportunities are emerging," Dacic said, noting that the presence of many Israeli companies and investors in Serbia was a positive example.

Israel is a major investor and we want further development of our economic ties, Dacic said, adding that a discussion with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had addressed launching a business forum and setting up a bilateral committee, appointment of a new ambassador and many other topics of mutual interest, such as cooperation in science, education, culture and a culture of remembrance of crimes committed against Serbs and Jews.

He noted the previous visit to Serbia by an Israeli FM had taken place 14 years ago, and said this was "bad and negative" considering the relations between Serbia and Israel and the traditional and historical relationship between the two peoples, which suffered together in WWII.

Dacic said regular meetings had been agreed and added that he was due to visit Israel.

"President Vucic outlined initiatives regarding regional topics and participation of business partners from our region at the forum, but we will discuss that together at a working dinner," Dacic said.

Cohen said he was happy to be on his first visit to Serbia, a friendly country that he noted was one of Israel's strongest partners in the region.

He said it was important that Serbia and Israel were creative countries ready to put innovation at the centre of their economies.

We are ready for a new chapter in the relations and to advance economic ties, cooperation in technology and cyber security, which will be beneficial to both peoples, he said, adding that Israel wanted to boost tourism and planned to increase the number of direct flights between Belgrade and Tel Aviv.

Cohen said his country also wanted to have more investors in Serbia, and noted that Israeli investors were already present in the Serbian real estate and renewables sectors.