First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic addressed the participants of the 6th class of Advanced Security and Defence Studies at the Military Academy, visiting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the programme of visits to important state institutions whose areas of responsibility include security and defence.

The participants comprised Serbian top officials: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the Republic of Serbia Nebojsa Stefanovic; Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Aleksandar Vulin, and Mayor of Belgrade Sinisa Mali, as well as officials of Serbian state- and other prominent institutions, senior officers of the Serbian Armed Forces, and members of armed forces from regional countries (Republic of Slovenia, Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Minister Dacic informed the participants about the organizational structure and scope of activity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Serbian foreign policy priorities.

The Foreign Minister drew attention to Serbia's active engagement in building and maintaining good-neighbourly relations and resolving all open issues through dialogue. He also underlined the importance of promoting diplomatic relations with Serbia's traditional partners, both in Europe and worldwide, including those that have not been in the focus of our attention in recent years. He indicated that an important element in assessing the bilateral relations with other countries is whether a country has or has not recognized the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo.

Minister Dacic stated that, although full EU membership was the strategic priority of Serbia's foreign policy, it should be openly said that the process of opening and closing negotiating chapters is often accompanied by various conditions posed by some Member States.

Minister Dacic briefly referred to security policy issues in the domain of responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the importance of reintroducing economic diplomacy.

In addition to being addressed by Minister Dacic, participants were also addressed by Acting Assistant Minister for Bilateral Cooperation Goran Aleksic, Acting Assistant Minister for Security Policy Branimir Filipovic, and Director of EU Sectoral Policies Department Snezana Stojic.