Dacic: Serbia to contribute to dialogue amid global crisis

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic met with OSCE Chairperson and Maltese FM Ian Borg in Belgrade on Wednesday, and noted that Serbia considered the OSCE the most significant security platform and stood ready to contribute to dialogue amid a global crisis.

"Despite the fact the whole world is in crisis, and that the crisis is also spilling over to the functioning of this organisation, we believe the OSCE is the most significant security platform for dialogue and we stand ready to contribute to a process of revitalising substantial and constructive dialogue that is needed in crisis conditions in relationships between states as well as in the multilateral arena," Dacic told a press conference after the meeting with Borg.

He noted that the cooperation between Serbian authorities and the OSCE Mission in Belgrade had been good.

"We have maintained good cooperation for many years and decades, and that cooperation has materialised in many areas, from security and the economy to the issue of the reform process. The mission has had a major role in the comprehensive reform process, be it in rule of law, strengthening of human and minority rights, promotion of tolerance and non-discrimination, governance and reforms of the security sector, or in democratisation of the media and the issue of media freedoms in general," Dacic said.

Dacic called on the OSCE to maintain its status-neutral position in Kosovo-Metohija as its operations in the territory were a part of a mandate based on UNSCR 1244.

Borg noted the OSCE's commitment to maintain its engagement in the region and strengthen the cooperation with Serbia at a critical time for the OSCE region and the world.

He said his discussions with Dacic had addressed many important issues the OSCE and Serbia were working on, including efforts to help delivering on commitments in critical areas such as rule of law, human rights, democratisation and media freedoms.

He added that democratisation, security cooperation, media, rule of law and human rights, including national minority rights, were areas that remained the main priorities of OSCE engagement in Serbia.