U.S. commended the leadership of Serbia

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivan Mrkić met in the capital of Mongolia with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.

During the talks Serbia's leadership has been commended for successfully completing the Brussels dialogue with Pristina.

At the meeting with Mr. Burns, the U.S. readiness was stressed to further support Serbia in its ongoing efforts to improve the situation in the region, with the full protection of our people in KiM, and to continue its unimpeded development and gain in importance and support it deserved long ago, said Minister Mrkic.

Catherine Ashton said that Serbia deserved a place in Europe, and that it bravely entered into a new period of the country's development, said Ivan Mrkic. Serbian Foreign Minister, attending the international conference in Mongolia, met with officials from Thailand, Japan, Nepal, Sierra Leone and the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier.

Ashton said that Serbia, by its latest agreement with Pristina, had made it much more appealing, stated Mrkić. Due to the Brussels Agreement Serbia was, according to him, praised by many foreign officials.

Noting that a large number of his interlocutors were from the countries that have not recognized Kosovo's independence, Mrkić said that they all stressed "that the Serbian leadership has made a good step, that the move means a lot to stabilize the situation in the region, that Serbia gained popularity and attractiveness."
The Serbian Foreign Minister said that his visit to Mongolia, where he participated in the international conference on democratization in the world, was an opportunity to inform the representatives of many countries about the content of the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, in order to make it clear that this was not the recognition of Kosovo's independence.

Mrkic is visiting Ulaanbaatar at the invitation of the Mongolian Government, and participating at the international conference on democratization in the world.

The conference brought together the representatives from 108 countries, with the participation of approximately 50 Ministers; some delegations were led by Prime Ministers or their Deputies.
The Serbian Foreign Minister, on Sunday and Monday, had meetings with more than 20 colleagues, mostly from Asia but also from other parts of the world, and informed them about the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina.

The meetings were an opportunity to discuss bilateral issues, too. In these talks, in almost every segment, a step forward was made, estimated Mrkic. "We will have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks to implement these agreements," said the Minister.

Minister Mrkic was also received by the Mongolian President Cahijagin Elbegdorj, who extended an invitation to Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic to visit Mongolia.

Serbian Foreign Minister met with senior officials from Thailand, Japan, Nepal and Sierra Leone, as well as with the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier.

Mrkic met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Surapong Tovičakčaikul, with the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Shunici Suzuki, with Foreign Minister of Nepal Durga Prasad Bhataraij and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone Ms. Ebun Jusu.

On Sunday, Minister Mrkic met with Deputy US Secretary of State William Burns, and had meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Sweden Carl Bildt, Lithuania Linas Linkevicius, Slovakia Lajcak and numerous colleagues from Asia and Africa.

The Serbian Foreign Minister met with his Mongolian counterpart Luvsanvandangin Bold, and the Minister of Bhutan Pendza, and handed him a letter from President Nikolic to the King of Bhutan.