The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be reformed, because our diplomats must not only be much more active in improving the political relations with other countries, but also to be able to help attract investments in order to boost our economy. We will therefore set up a special sector in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deal with the economy, that is, to find ways and means to have this Ministry also participate in encouraging investments, said Ivica Dacic, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs speaking to "Politika".

We had economic ambassadors who were very expensive, and most of them had absolutely no performance whatsoever. For that reason they were recalled. What specifically do you suggest with regard to "economic diplomacy"?
That is part of the overall reform of the Foreign Ministry and our diplomacy. The MFA does not have an institutional framework for economic issues, so I talked to the Prime Minister about how to organize this and how every one of us can help. We agreed that it was not necessary that we all visit the same country, but to make arrangements to „cover" as many countries as possible and ensure that all those visits have a specific purpose. I will attend, from 26-28 May, the Conference of the Non-Aligned Countries in Algiers, as observer, since our country is not a member of this organization. Some 40-50 Foreign Ministers will be present there, which is an opportunity to establish and strengthen contacts. However, this will also be an opportunity for talks with Algerian officials as to how to increase the presence of our companies in that country, in order to encourage economic cooperation. This would require a separate sector in the Foreign Ministry that would deal with economic issues, and our ambassadors must join these efforts as well...

In other words, we would have to have capable ambassadors, who would, like foreign ambassadors in our country, display an interest for the businesses of their companies in Serbia. This is not the case with our diplomats?
We are in need of such ambassadors. But our media has a distorted picture of such engagements. For example, as Prime Minister, I received dozens of letters from foreign Prime Ministers asking that some of their companies set up their businesses in Serbia. Had I done that, it would certainly have appeared in our media in the context of suspect corruptive practices. People should have freedom to do their job, whereas the competent state authorities will determine whether corruption is involved or not. I expect our ambassadors to come up with proposals and useful information....

What are they sending now?
Last year, 25,000 cables were received from our diplomats worldwide. One of them said that Burundi was participating in a peace mission in another African country. How can that be of interest to Serbia? I am interested to hear what our ambassadors have done to help us reach Barack Obama, David Cameroon; what they have done to have a British Prime Minister visit Serbia. The last UK PM to visit was Margaret Thatcher. Something depends on our foreign partners, too. Since the "Westerners" are always suspicious of our relations with Russia, I told them that both Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin visited Serbia; that Putin received President Tomislav Nikolic, Aleksandar Vucic and me... But our ambassadors must also intensify their own activity. In these six years that I have been in government I visited many countries and familiarized myself with many ambassadors and their abilities. That must dramatically change. One of them did not even know the address of his embassy...

How come he didn't know the address?
Well, he told me that he had been there for only three or four months, and that he had not yet remembered it. How will he be able to represent the country? Unfortunately, he is still ambassador, but will not be for much longer.

Do you have the support of Prime Minister Vucic for the moves that you intend to make?
Not only do I have the Prime Minister's support, but we share this position in common. I will not make a single move without consulting him. We must have a coordinated state policy and many changes will have to be made.

Does this include the policy of diplomatic passport issuance?
This issue is not the focus of attention and it seems that we are hiding from the media information on who may hold a diplomatic passport. We are not hiding anything; this information is classified under the law. I shouldn't be saying this, but from June 2009 to April 2014, a total of 3,218 diplomatic passports were issued with a five-year expiry period – all in accordance with the law and the Government Decree. An action for their return has been taken, but some holders have paid no heed to the call to return the document, whereas their confiscation has not been provided for under the law. We will therefore urgently change the regulations governing this matter.

Will restrictions follow?
Of course, it is quite clear who is entitled to a diplomatic passport. We will also change the provisions of the law granting the Minister discretion to decide alone to whom a diplomatic passport will be issued.

Aside from introducing these changes, what will be your priorities?
It goes without saying that it is our path to the European Union. At the Ministerial Conference in Thessaloniki, Evangelos Venizelos, President of the EU Council of Ministers and Foreign Minister of Greece, told me that he would commit himself to the holding of the second Inter-Governmental Serbia-EU Conference in June. However, the IGC will be held only if certain chapters are opened. Otherwise, it is most likely that it will be held under the Italian Presidency. It is realistic that it will take place in October, after the opening of Chapter 32. High-level agreement was reached on this, in Thessaloniki. There is also resumption of the dialogue with Pristina which is, somehow, an important point in the further negotiations with the EU. It will probably be aggravated because of the elections in Kosovo, but it will be continued. Our priority is also to have good relations with our traditional friends, with Russia.....

But pressures to impose sanctions on Russia are increasing and becoming ever more vocal?
The pressures will certainly be further intensified. I wish to reiterate that we will have an obligation to conduct common policy with the EU only after becoming a full-fledged EU member state. Until then, our foreign policy will be in line with our desire to become an EU member state; however, we will weigh each individual issue according to our state and national interest.

Is there a Government consensus on this matter?
There is. Double standards never bring anything positive, and some Western countries did not even condemn Kosovo's illegal actions against Serbia. We have a principled position; we respect the territorial integrity of every country, a UN member state, but we cannot impose sanctions on Russia, and this issue does not only concern Russia. Russia would not be harmed by the institution of Serbian sanctions, as it was not harmed by those imposed by Montenegro. To Serbia, this is a matter of honour and having a nerve, but eventually also of economic interest. Incidentally, you heard Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic say that Head of the EU Mission was interfering with Montenegro's electoral process, because he said that Montenegro had no obligation to impose sanctions on Russia. So how does Serbia have that obligation? There is no such obligation unless it is an EU member state; however, I will endeavour to align our policy with the EU as much as possible. Also very important for us is Serbia's OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office next year, as the OSCE is the leading mediator between the great powers on the situation in Ukraine. We must make good preparations for that, which we will.

As soon as he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic wished to see the people he would be working with, so he toured the offices. He also visited the cafeteria and shocked the employees when he sat down to have coffee with them and talk. Other ministers didn't do that, he said, adding that he was guided by the rule: "Good atmosphere, good work".

You announced reforms of your SPS party.
We have been looking for new ways of operating and organizing the party in the last 14 years. The burden of the past is weighing heavily upon us. We have wasted a lot of time on intra-party discussions on who was right, Milosevic or I; were Bane Ivkovic and Milorad Vucelic tearing the party apart, how Milosevic had backed Seselj in the Presidential election....

That was way back in the past....
No, because it reduced our party to five or six percent of citizen support. I will compare SPS with dinosaurs that were the biggest animals, but had become extinct. They were unable to adapt to changes. I don't want SPS to suffer the destiny of dinosaurs, that is why I made changes and who cannot adapt.....

What will happen to those who cannot „adapt"?
Well, the conductor has died, but the choir is still singing the same song. So, the song must change. These were the last elections where we won votes on an ideology of social justice based on left-wing ideas, and my personal merit. Now, we must modernize the party, the manifesto....

Which part of the manifesto?
The manifesto should draw closer to social democracy. Organizational changes are also needed. We need people who will work on familiarizing people with our ideology, who will work with them. Our local party officials consider it humiliating for them to do the same as the other parties in the electoral campaign. They are not willing to do the "canvassing"; they still behave as if they came from the political school of Kumrovec (Tito's birthplace). That is why we need younger people. It is not a matter of age, but of everyone's readiness to make their contribution to the party, in order to capture votes. I have not yet decided whether to convene the congress (party conference) now, but it will surely be held by the end of the year.

So will there be purges?
Stalin made purges (He laughs), I want changes.
Media is writing about "sacking" some people? No, it is not that. I was elected Leader from among four contenders. I told everyone: "Guys, I am not asking you to love me, but if I am bringing you the largest number of votes, then SPS cannot have more than one policy. That means that, during the decision-making process, everyone can speak their minds, but the moment the decision is made, there can be no polemic discussion in the media". I also told them: "Tolerate me as long as I deliver, for when I stop delivering, I will resign myself or you can replace me".

There is an impression that someone would like to take your position and is making an effort to achieve that end by anonymously passing information to the media.
I don't know. I did not make any statements on personnel changes. Now that you are asking me who is going to leave, I have no answer. This should be given some thought. I also thought about changing the name of the party and its symbol....

What could be the new name of the party? Wouldn't that be a risk?
The SNS example shows that it was not a risk. They made a new party. In that way, they distanced themselves from all the negative SRS reflections; demonstrated a desire to change, talked about the need for social reforms and they are doing all that. So, one should not be afraid of changes.