Serbia signs ASEAN treaty

JAKARTA - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic signed on Monday in Jakarta the instrument on accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.

Jakarta is hosting the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

At a ceremony in the Indonesian capital, Dacic said he was greatly honoured to be signing the document on behalf of Serbia and noted that it was of great importance for further advancement of Serbia's cooperation with friendly countries.

He said Serbia was the successor of the former Yugoslavia and that it was proud of its decades-long friendship with countries of southeast Asia, which dates back to the 1950s and 1960s and the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement.

"We have extremely friendly feelings towards Indonesia and other ASEAN member states," Dacic said.

He noted that the principles Serbia had been adhering to for many years were also the principles of ASEAN - mutual respect of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the national identities of all peoples, non-interference in internal matters of other states and overcoming of all differences by peaceful means.

In July this year, the ASEAN member states - Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam and Myanmar - unanimously approved Serbia's request to accede to the Treaty.

The accession to the Treaty opens up possibilities for the Republic of Serbia to engage in closer dialogue, cooperation and involvement in various ASEAN networks and platforms, while additionally helping to promote substantial cooperation with the bloc in economic and socio-cultural areas.

The most important fields of cooperation between ASEAN and signatories to the Treaty include economic cooperation, education and development of inter-human contacts, science, technology, innovation and sustainable development, and ASEAN also develops cooperation with individual countries in other specific areas.

Serbia submitted a formal request to accede to the Treaty in 2013.

Other signatories of the treaty include China, India, Japan, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, France, the US, Canada, Turkey, the EU and the UK.

At Monday's ceremony in Jakarta, the accession instrument was also signed by Panama and Kuwait.