Dacic: Suriname great friend to Serbia, we will develop cooperation

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic received Surinamese counterpart Albert Ramdin on Monday.

He said Suriname was extremely friendly to Serbia and noted that the two countries had expressed readiness to develop cooperation at the highest level in all fields.

At a joint press conference with Ramdin, Dacic thanked Suriname for de-recognising the unilaterally declared independence of the so-called Kosovo in 2017 and added that de-recognitions by 27 other countries had taken place since.

"In fact, the whole organised action by the state leadership when it comes to a redefinition of the decisions by certain countries on the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo began with the de-recognition by Suriname. Besides, Suriname has also voted against Kosovo's applications for admission to Unesco and Interpol - they voted against the admission in both cases, which was of capital importance to us," said Dacic, who visited Suriname in 2018.

"We are ready to develop our cooperation at the highest level and in all areas, which means bilaterally when it comes to visits at the highest level, by forming a joint committee or a commission for cooperation, by holding political consultations between our two ministries," Dacic said.

He also thanked the government of Suriname for supporting Serbia's successful bid to host EXPO 2027 and added that ways of presenting Suriname at the expo would be discussed.

Ramdin said Suriname respected the territorial integrity of Serbia and would continue to support Serbia in that regard.

He added that there were great opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the economy and business.

He said his country would become an oil and gas producer within the next few years and that that presented a great opportunity for Serbian companies, and added that there were also opportunities in the agriculture and food industries.