"Mr. Milosevic,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Milosevic, Acting Director of the Archive of Yugoslavia, for inviting me to open the exhibition "Kingdom of Yugoslavia at the League of Nations".

I have understood the invitation to address this exhibition in my capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia as a sign of recognition of Serbian diplomacy, which is endeavouring to affirm the ideas of multilateralism, international cooperation and safeguarding of international peace through the development of international relations based on the principles of justice, collective security and respect of international law – the very ideas that the League of Nations where the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was one of the founding members stood for.

"War, even the most protracted one, only shakes up the issues over which
the parties in dispute decided to go to war, and leaves their resolution to the times after peace is signed", said Ivo Andric, our Nobel Prize Winner and representative of the Permanent Delegation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to the League of Nations in Geneva, from 1930 to 1933.

World War One deeply scarred the face of Europe and European nations. Serbian people lost almost a third of its overall population in this war, which were in terms of percentages the greatest casualties amongst the belligerents, and second largest after Russia and France in terms of total number of victims.

The end of World War One, the most massive global armed conflict until that time, raised many issues and problems that needed to be dealt with in the years that ensued. It was that need recognized by forty-two countries which led to the establishment of the League of Nations, the forerunner of today's United Nations.

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joined the project of creating the League of Nations, firmly and unwaveringly believing that lasting peace may only be achieved through international cooperation and dedicated efforts aimed at open, equitable and honourable relations among states. Not even present-day Serbia, either, has any doubts that sustainable peace can only be built upon the foundations of agreement-reaching and adherence to the principles of international law.

While under the influence of growing fascism in Europe and as a result of indecision and lack of readiness on the part of great powers to cope with the imminent threat of an emerging international conflict many countries were leaving the League of Nations, Yugoslavia did not, for a moment, abandon its position that an international organization like the League of Nations of that time, was best placed to settle problems important for international peace, security and prosperity.

Although the League was powerless to prevent the new, larger and deadlier international conflict, the inception of the United Nations, immediately after the end of World War Two, proved right the multilateral approach to addressing common global challenges in the interest of maintaining international peace and security and enabling all nations to develop and cooperate among them economically, culturally and in any other respect.

It is in the context of the same universal ideas that today's Serbia looks upon the role of the United Nations where it is actively working in its principal and subsidiary bodies on finding solutions for problems facing the world today – from terrorism, climate change to poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Human losses, suffering and devastation which we experienced throughout our history have even more strengthened our belief that it is only on the basis of equality and equity of all countries and peoples and consistent implementation of undertaken international obligations that enduring peace and a better future for coming generations can be assured.

I am confident that owing to the documents and photographs on display in the Archive of Yugoslavia, we will find out and learn more about the activities of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia at the League of Nations.

Thank you for your attention."