First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic was staying in New York this week, where he participated in the 73rd UNGA General Debate as a member of the Serbian delegation.

Minister Dacic assessed that the past week had been very successful from the point of view of Serbian state and national interests.

Summarizing his impressions from the UN General Assembly, the Minister said that in comparison with the previous years, the atmosphere itself was very different with regards to the issues important to Serbia.

The Serbian Foreign Minister had meetings with representatives of around 100 countries, he took part in various side events – the Peace Summit, the Conference dedicated to the global drugs problem, NAM Ministerial Meeting and a dinner with representatives of the European Union.

"From this point of view, I may say that the problems Serbia is faced with regarding its territorial integrity have been met with a far greater understanding, that there is general understanding that the issue of Kosovo has been wrongly perceived over the past ten years and that many countries are prepared to re-examine their decisions, to suspend or annul their earlier decisions, and wish to adopt a status-neutral position as long as the negotiations are ongoing.

We will continue further contacts with the countries that have positively responded to the arguments advanced by us.

On the other hand, it is very interesting that many countries have started to avoid any meetings with "Kosovo's" representatives, even accidental ones. Some of them have approached the Moroccan Prime Minister, posting on their Facebook page that Morocco had discussed with them the establishment of diplomatic relations, which was immediately dismissed by the Moroccan delegation. Something similar happened with a Minister from Tunisia – his delegation had also released a statement explaining that their meeting boiled down to an accidental encounter in the hallway, and that they had never touched on politics, adding that Tunisia had not changed its position regarding Kosovo and Metohija.

This week was very demanding, we had many meetings and talks with colleagues, people from different continents. This is a good prelude to the task that awaits us – the implementation of everything agreed on here in New York", Minister Dacic concluded.