Dacic: We will work on advancement of Serbia-Yemen relations

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said on Monday after meeting with Yemeni counterpart Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak in Belgrade the two countries were connected by traditional friendship but would work on advancement and development of cooperation in numerous fields in the future.

Welcoming bin Mubarak, Dacic noted that Serbia-Yemen diplomatic relations had been established in 1957.

He said they had agreed the two countries needed to work on development of cooperation in all fields, especially on economic cooperation as the volume of their bilateral trade was relatively small.

"Since we are now covering Yemen from Kuwait, a proposal was made that we do that from Saudi Arabia in the future. There are many opportunities for development of cooperation, especially in the economy, for establishing cooperation with our agricultural institutes and faculties. They (Yemen) are especially interested in the health care sector and provision of health care services," Dacic said.

He said there was space for cooperation in culture, science and education and that bin Mubarak had expressed interest in scholarships for Yemeni students.

Dacic also said he had informed bin Mubarak of Serbia's arguments regarding the Kosovo-Metohija issue and preservation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"I said that, in that regard, we undoubtedly expect respect of our territorial integrity - not just the territorial integrity of some other countries," Dacic said.

Dacic reiterated Serbia would not take a single step that would lead to a recognition of the so-called Kosovo nor allow it to become a UN member.

"We asked our friend and all our friends to exercise restraint and respect the dialogue underway, and to keep their activities in that regard suspended until the dialogue with Pristina is over," Dacic said.

Bin Mubarak said the meeting with Dacic had addressed ways to expedite coordination between the two countries as well as the possibility of signing a MoU on political consultations to ensure a better understanding of key issues and the interests of both countries.

He said health care, education, agriculture, security and the military were all important fields for Yemen in which deals could be made to revive old agreements.