Address by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic at today's ceremony of awarding diplomas to students of the Diplomatic Academy, class 2013/14: 

"Dear students of the Diplomatic Academy,
Dear professors and colleagues,

The development of the diplomatic service of our country followed the mainstream of the establishment and development of the Serbian state, and shared the same fate with it. In the rebelling Serbia the tasks related to foreign affairs were entrusted only to the best educated among the rebels, such as Archpriest Mateja Nenadovic and Boza Grujovic, the author of the first modern document in the history of Serbia referring to legal regulation of foreign policy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs cherishes nearly130 year-long tradition of training and professionalization of the diplomatic staff. Let us recall that back at the time of King Milan, in 1886, the law on diplomatic service was passed, which set the standards for the acquisition of proper knowledge and skills for diplomats.

This law was in force until a new decree was issued in 1919. It is the first legal act laying down the criteria for entry into diplomatic service. According to the Decree, a prospective diplomat had to be a subject of the Kingdom, to have done his military duty, have passed the entrance exam, speak French, have a degree from a local or foreign university and passed the diplomatic and consular exam.

Many of our famous personalities like Jovan Ducic, Milan Rakic, a volunteer in the First Balkan War and the first Serbian soldier who entered the liberated Pristina, Milos Crnjanski and Ivo Andric, went through a specific process of education for the diplomatic service. All of them left significant traces not only in their literary work but also in our diplomatic service.

The Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has had this name since 1998, is just one of the stages in the career development of professional staff recruited as experts and regular staff of our diplomatic and consular missions.

Many years of gaining professional experience and building career are before our young diplomats and civil servants, after graduating from the Diplomatic Academy.

The Academy's training programmes keep up with the latest developments in international relations and are tailored to meet the requirements of professional guidance of an efficient and modern state administration.

Aware of the need to agree on and coordinate the objectives and activities in the area of international cooperation and foreign policy at the level of state administration, we have decided to share our knowledge and skills with other departments. Twelve years ago, we facilitated the training of representatives of other state authorities. More than 300 participants from other ministries have been given thus far the opportunity to take the knowledge gained here back to their posts and apply to their everyday tasks.

Finally, let me offer my most warmest congratulations to all students of the 2013/14 generation on completing the training programme. My special praises go to the best of all attendants: Milica Djuric of the Security Intelligence Agency, with an average grade of 9.89 and Ljubica Kubura of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with an average grade of 9.83, and I wish you all every success and all the best in your future endeavours, firmly believing that the knowledge acquired at the Diplomatic Academy will be to the benefit of you personally and the institutions you come from."