First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic attended today the official opening of the Centre for Russian Studies of the Belgrade University Faculty of Political Sciences, and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Faculty of Political Sciences of Belgrade University (FPN) and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences Dr. Dragan R. Simic and Vice-Rector for Science of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations Prof. Dr. Evgeny Kozokin.

Minister Dacic expressed his conviction that the establishment of these institutional ties would further contribute to the quality of performance of the Centre for Russian Studies, enhancing the overall relations between the two countries including in the fields of science and education.

At the formal ceremony on the occasion of the opening of the Centre for Russian Studies, Minister Dacic underlined the fact that the commencement of the Centre's work coincided with the marking of the 180th anniversary of Serbia-Russia diplomatic relations.

"The high level of our relations with Russia, mutual closeness, support and understanding were reconfirmed in the most recent visit to Belgrade by the true friend of Serbian people and my dear colleague Sergey Lavrov. The highlight of our talks was the commitment to continue the strong bonds with Russia, of which the people of Serbia could directly assure themselves during the substantive programme of visit by the Russian Foreign Minister", stated Minister Dacic.

The Minister expressed his satisfaction with the establishment of the Centre for Russia Studies and wished every success in its future work, underlining his expectation that the Centre would define ambitious goals, plans and activities in its work, and thus become – as an inexhaustible source of knowledge, a true authority in the scientific communities of Serbia and Europe.