Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia no longer loses battles for its national interests

Belgrade, 9 November 2015

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic stated today, following the decision of UNESCO not to admit Kosovo to full membership, that our country has not been defeated in this case and that it will continue to try to solve all problems through dialogue.

Aleksandar Vucic

Speaking at an extraordinary press conference together with First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic, Vucic said Serbia is no longer losing battles for its national interests.

The best evidence for this is a favourable outcome in the case of the Resolution on Srebrenica, the economic aggression of Croatia, as well as today's session of the General Conference of UNESCO, the Prime Minister underlined.

By protecting the interests of our people, we opposed stronger than us who have not humiliated us, he said, adding that he is proud of his country and people.

According to Vucic, Serbia will lose some games, but it will not abandon its principles and will not enter into conflicts, but will try to solve all problems through dialogue.

The Prime Minister told Pristina that Serbia is committed to continued dialogue and solving problems through discussion and not imposing or provoking crises in relations.

Serbia is willing to make many compromises in order to ensure a better life for all people in Kosovo-Metohija, but all the parties must fulfil their obligations and respect the agreements. Serbia insists on that and will continue to do so in the future, Vucic underlined.

Dacic assessed that Kosovo, after the decision not to be accepted into UNESCO, has small chances to get support to become a non-permanent UN member, for which it plans to apply.

Kosovo did not manage to enter UNESCO where the threshold is low, and in the UN General Assembly the voting rules are different and the votes of those abstained are also counted and a two-third majority is required, he explained.

Ivica Dacic

Dacic underlined that all that Serbian officials have done in the previous days was for the Serbian people, country, justice and history.

We did not lose, we won, Dacic reiterated and urged everyone to remember who was on our side this time.

We do not want what is not ours, but we will not give up on what is ours and that is why we have not asked anything from Kosovo. We did not want to steal them anything, we just defend our sacred sites, heritage and principles, he said and stressed that dialogue must remain the only way to resolve all contentious issues.

Thanking all those who were on the side of Serbia and justice, Dacic said that voting in UNESCO has shown that Serbia has friends and influence in the world.

The First Deputy Prime Minister noted that countries around the world have been subjected to heavy pressure to vote for Kosovo's entry into UNESCO, while representatives of Kosovo used various means and blackmail.

Serbian officials conducted intensive talks with representatives of 90 countries of the world and insisted on the fact that Serbia is not against anyone, but for the respect for international principles and dialogue.

At today's plenary session of the General Conference of UNESCO, Kosovo has not been admitted to membership of this organisation because it did not obtain the necessary two-thirds majority.