Dacic meets with FMs of 18 countries in New York

NEW YORK - On the first day of a visit to New York, Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic held bilateral meetings with the FMs of 18 countries including Cyprus, Nepal, Armenia, Burkina Faso and the UAE on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly session.

With Cypriot FM Constantinos Kombos, Dacic discussed further advancement of bilateral relations between the two friendly countries, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign affairs said in a statement.

Dacic noted that Serbia attached special importance to intensifying and boosting the ties and the cooperation with Cyprus, which he said were based on firm friendship, mutual trust and historically confirmed closeness and solidarity between the two peoples.

The ministers reiterated their firm positions on support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia and Cyprus, as well as mutual satisfaction with the level of cooperation achieved in multilateral forums, especially in terms of the key foreign policy priorities of the two states.

They expressed the expectation political dialogue would be intensified further in the period to come through an exchange of high- and top-level bilateral visits.

Dacic and Nepali FM Narayan Prakash Saud agreed that bilateral ties between their countries were characterised by traditionally good relations and cooperation based on UN principles, as well as by long-standing friendly ties from the Non-Aligned Movement.

Dacic thanked Nepal for its support on issues that are of the highest significance to Serbia, above all, for its principled stance of non-recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of the so-called Kosovo.

Dacic also met with Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan to discuss bilateral relations.

They noted the significance of exchanging high-level visits and continued discussions on matters of mutual interest with a view to strengthening political dialogue and developing mutually beneficial ties.

They also discussed regional stability issues.

Dacic also met with Burkina Faso FM Olivia Ragnaghnewende Rouamba.

They noted that their countries were connected by traditional friendship and expressed readiness to work on advancement of cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

Dacic also met with UAE FM Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

They agreed that the friendly and strategic bilateral ties were developing very well and expressed the hope the positive impetus in the relations would be continued, especially through an exchange of high- and top-level visits.

They also said it was important that advancement of bilateral political relations was accompanied by a trend of intensifying economic and investment cooperation, to be boosted by the start of talks on concluding a FTA.

Dacic also met with the FMs of Hungary, Luxembourg, Palestine, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Earlier on Monday, Dacic also attended a working breakfast with Western Balkans FMs, hosted by Italian FM Antonio Tajani.

It was also attended by the FMs of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Croatia and Slovenia.

At the end of the first day of the visit to New York, Dacic attended receptions hosted by US State Secretary Antony Blinken and German FM Annalena Baerbock, which was a good opportunity for constructive discussions, the statement also said.