Dacic receives Venezuelan FM

BELGRADE - Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic on Friday received Venezuelan FM Yvan Gil Pinto, who is on an official visit to Serbia.

At a joint press conference after the meeting, Dacic announced Serbia would open an embassy in Venezuela to facilitate bilateral cooperation.

Previously, the two ministers signed an agreement on abolishing visas for holders of standard passports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

"Venezuela and Serbia are two brotherly or, if you will, sisterly countries that are very close, with traditional and friendly relations spanning 141 years. In spite of difficult pressure on both Venezuela and Serbia, we have managed to preserve our friendship," Dacic said, welcoming his Venezuelan counterpart.

Discussions at the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs - also considered as a second meeting of a mechanism for bilateral political consultations - addressed numerous possibilities for further advancement of bilateral cooperation.

The parties expressed readiness to strengthen political dialogue and economic ties, as well as cooperation in agriculture, tourism, education, youth, sports and culture, the statement said.

"I would like to express enormous gratitude to Venezuela for its position regarding our biggest problem - the issue of our territorial integrity and sovereignty," Dacic said, adding that there were no outstanding issues between the two countries and that Venezuela had a sincere friend in Serbia.

Gil Pinto said his country would always be true to the principle of supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.

Those are values Venezuela shares with Serbia, with which it has been trying over the past decade to develop relations in the ever-complex world of today and in an increasingly challenging geopolitical situation, he said.

He noted that the Non-Aligned Movement - established in Belgrade in 1961 and subsequently joined by Venezuela - was another forum for cooperation between the two countries.