“In the coming period, Serbia will have a number of very important foreign policy activities, which is primarily the result of its altered foreign policy position”, said today First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic.

“We, as a small country, have to create for ourselves good international conditions for the implementation of international policies. We are already preparing ourselves for the next activities. We want to organize well the summit with China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe”, said Dacic.
“I will make a number of visits to countries, from Denmark, Argentina and Chile to Russia, then I will be in Brussels, and on 4 December, Serbia will practically take over the OSCE Chairmanship, although it formally begins on January 1, 2015” said the Minister. He added that it was a big challenge, and that Serbia would have to address the issue of Russia and Ukraine, as the Contact Group was composed of representatives of these countries and the country chairing the OSCE.
“The thesis that Crimea is not the same case as Kosovo insults our intelligence”, the Minister said, adding that the issue of territorial integrity was very painful for Serbia, because it had no support when Kosovo was at stake. However, he added, it did not mean that Serbia would recognize the violation of territorial integrity of other countries.
Asked when Serbia will have to align its policy with the policy of the European Union and what it means, the Serbian Foreign Minister explained that formally and legally, we have to do it by the end of the process, before entering the EU. “By then, we should have a foreign, security and defence policy harmonized with the EU. When will it be? At least in five years from now, by around 2020, due to the fact that it was said that during the mandate of this Commission no new members will be admitted”, said Minister Dacic on TV Pink.
Speaking about the opening of chapters for the EU accession of Serbia, the Minister said that all countries agreed that Chapter 32 concerning finances should be opened first, but that Germany felt that any of the three chapters which are considered “veto chapters” should be opened first. These are Chapters 23, 24 and 35, where at any moment one could say that Serbia did not sufficiently progress and that negotiations should be suspended, said Dacic.