Address by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic at the opening ceremony of Ivo Andric Street in Guatemala City:

"Ladies and gentlemen,
Representing the Republic of Serbia in my capacity as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, I am extremely honoured to attend the ceremony on the occasion of naming a street in central Guatemala City after Ivo Andric.

On this occasion I would like to thank, on behalf of the people of Serbia and on my own behalf, Foreign Minister of Guatemala Sandra Polanco and the Guatemala City leadership for deciding to name the street after Ivo Andric.
The decision by Guatemala City authorities in 2017 was made as a token of sincere and decades-long friendship between Guatemala and Serbia, based on mutual respect between the two peoples and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two states. At the same time, today's event is a symbol of respect and recognition for the literary works of the Nobel Prize Winning author and our renowned writer Ivo Andric, the laureate of this prestigious award in 1961.

As a friendly gesture by Serbia and at the initiative taken by the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Serbia in Guatemala, Marcela Arzu, the Commission for Monuments and Names of Squares and Streets in the City of Belgrade reached a decision in 2016 to name a street in Belgrade after Guatemalan Nobel Prize laureate Miguel Angel Asturias. I sincerely hope that the formal inauguration ceremony for the street named after Miguel Angel Asturias in Belgrade will take place during the forthcoming visit of my counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala to the Republic of Serbia, in June of this year.

Ivo Andric was a world-famous writer, diplomat and intellectual who devoted his life to literature, but also to diplomacy. In the plethora of literary jewels he was remembered by, among the most outstanding ones, masterpieces like "The Bridge over the Drina", "Bosnian Chronicle" and "The Damned Yard", in which he portrayed life in the then Bosnia under Ottoman rule, in a brilliant manner. In view of his diplomatic achievements, it should be mentioned that he left a significant mark with his dedicated service in the diplomatic missions and consulates of the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia in Rome, Gratz, Madrid, Berlin, Brussels, Geneva and other European capitals.

In the end, I would like to emphasize that today's ceremony is another proof that cultural ties are often the essence of the overall relations between two countries and peoples, making them stronger and inextricable.
In that name, long live the friendship between Guatemala and Serbia!"