Participation of the delegation of the Republic of Serbia in the 69th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations featured as one of the main topics of today's regular monthly press conference held by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic, who also availed himself of the opportunity to present the October agenda.

The Minister used the annual UNGA Session, by far the largest global multilateral gathering, to hold around twenty bilateral meetings with, among others, his counterparts from the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and a number of representatives from the EU, OSCE, and regional initiatives.

The Serbian Foreign Minister delivered his speech in New York at a special session convened by the UN Security Council regarding threats to peace and security caused by terrorist acts, chaired by US President Obama. Serbia sponsored the UN Resolution adopted on the occasion, calling on all states to promulgate laws envisaging that the joining of jihadist groups by their nationals will be treated as a serious crime.

Speaking at a side-event on peacekeeping operations chaired by US Vice-President Biden, Minister Dacic highlighted Serbia's active role as a regional leader in UN peacekeeping operations.

In the light of Serbia's coming assumption of the OSCE Chairmanship, the Minister took part in two New York meetings pertinent to this topic- the OSCE Troika meeting (Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Switzerland, and Serbia), and in a Ministerial meeting of the OSCE Participating States, where he made a statement on "Response to the crisis of European security: the role of the OSCE". Later on, the Minister took part in two regional meetings held in New York - a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Western Balkans, and at a working lunch of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP).

September was also important as regards Serbia's European integration. The Minister underscored the importance of the visit made by COELA members (Committee on Enlargement of the Council of the European Union). COELA consists of representatives of all the 28 EU Member States, dealing with the issue of the EU enlargement on a daily basis, which made this visit a perfect opportunity for informing experts in great detail about Serbia's achievements on its European path so far. Minister Dacic met Eduard Kukan, Chairman of the EP delegation of the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee, and together they discussed continuation of cooperation with the European Parliament, particularly having in mind the new constellation of forces following the EP elections held in May 2014.

From among numerous activities, the Minister singled out the launch of the implementation of the Regional Housing Programme intended to provide for refugees. Since Serbia is a country with by far the largest number of refugees in Europe, this international programme is meant to assist in resolving the issue of their accommodation in the years to come. The international community has committed itself to allocating grants to the region, whereby Serbia will receive between EUR 200 and EUR 300 million, and approximately 17 000 refugee families could count on resolution of their housing issue owing to this fund.

The Serbian Foreign Minister announced further work on the process of accession to the EU in October, and several important international gatherings to be held in Belgrade.

Minister Dacic, who will be heading the Serbian delegation to the bilateral screening meeting on Chapter 31 (Foreign, Security and Defence Policy) in Brussels, on 10 October, pointed out that by his attendance he wanted to underline the significance of the issue of aligning Serbian foreign policy with that of the EU, which will certainly be a long-term process, whose overall effects would be assessed at the very finishing line of the Serbian European path, prior to the completion of the enlargement process.

When asked by journalists what he expected of the October Report to be released by the European Commission, the Minister voiced his belief that the Commission's Progress Report on Serbia would be positive, perhaps the most positive one in comparison with those issued over the past few years, adding that he expected that negotiating Chapters 32 and 35 would be opened by the end of the year, which primarily depended on Berlin's position. Minister Dacic assessed that the issue of whether the chapters would be opened in December or January was not of cardinal importance for Serbia; what mattered was that we could see a sincere relationship of our European partners towards our reform efforts. "We cannot agree to run in a marathon where the finishing line is shifted all the time, without knowing for how long we are supposed to run, and what hurdles we are to jump over", the Minister said.

Regional European integration will definitely feature as one of the topics in a conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Economy of the Western Balkans, which is to take place in Belgrade, on 23 October. It will consider possibilities for improved economic governance and infrastructure connectivity, and for reasons of participation of Kosovo and Metohija representatives from the provisional institutions of self-government, the conference will be held in the Gymnich format, which implies that participants will be introduced without national symbols or status indicators.

In tandem with the United Nations, Belgrade will host a large roundtable meeting on peace operations on 20-21 October, which can be regarded as recognition of Serbian contribution to UN peace efforts, having in mind that Serbia is the largest contributor from the Balkans, and among the first ten in Europe.

The same afternoon, on 21 October, the Minister will be in Brussels to meet with High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and EC Vice-President Catherine Ashton. On the occasion of their meeting in New York, the Minister expressed his gratitude to Ms. Ashton for the good cooperation and objectivity in dealing with issues of importance to Serbia.

As the country about to assume the OSCE Chairmanship, Serbia has already undertaken a number of actions enabling it to prove that it is a trustworthy and competent actor at the international stage. Minister Dacic will also take part in the OSCE meeting in Helsinki on 9 October, where the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act will be discussed, when Belgrade will gather together representatives of 57 Participating States.

One of the topics the Minister discussed at the press conference was the visit of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Serbia, stressing that Putin's visit is related to the anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade, which was liberated by the partisans and the Soviet Red Army in WWII, and that this ceremony was the best proof of Serbia's anti-fascist tradition.