Djuric: Serbia Achieved Three Goals at ASEAN Manila Summit

Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said Serbia’s delegation to the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila achieved all three of its planned goals. According to him, these were confirmation of support for Serbia’s territorial integrity, preparations for the participation of Asian countries in the Belgrade Expo next year, and a series of bilateral meetings with ministers from several states.

Djuric specified that the first goal was confirmation that a number of countries in the region support Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, while respecting its position on Kosovo and Metohija. That part of the visit, he said, showed that Belgrade has interlocutors in Southeast Asia who acknowledge its stance on the status of the southern province. For Serbian diplomacy this is not a formality, since the position on Kosovo and Metohija is defended at every multilateral forum, and the number of states that openly articulate it makes a difference within the United Nations voting body.

What does Serbia gain from the ASEAN summit?

The second goal the minister highlighted concerns the economy and an upcoming event in Belgrade. Djuric said talks were held on the participation of Southeast Asian countries in next year’s Expo, a specialized exhibition expected to be one of the largest international projects Serbia has organized. The presence of Asian economies and governments at that event is something the minister sees as a chance to open new trade and investment ties, at a time when Belgrade is seeking to diversify its partners beyond traditional European markets.

The third goal was bilateral meetings. Djuric spoke with counterparts from several countries, singling out the foreign ministers of the Philippines and Chile. Such contacts, however routine they may appear, form the fabric of foreign policy: through them concrete visits, memoranda and support within international bodies are arranged. For a country the size of Serbia, a network of interlocutors beyond its immediate region provides levers that are activated only when they are needed.

Meetings on the sidelines

On the margins of the Manila summit the minister also met the foreign ministers of Sweden, Lithuania and Poland, as well as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas. The meeting with Kallas carries added weight because it comes at a moment when relations between Belgrade and Brussels are passing through a sensitive phase, marked by questions of the rule of law, dialogue with Pristina and the pace of accession talks.

Government-aligned figures read such appearances as confirmation that Serbia is pursuing an active and balanced foreign policy, able to talk with European partners and with states in Asia and Latin America at the same time. From the opposition, on the other hand, one often hears the objection that a string of meetings and statements about support for territorial integrity remains at the level of declarations, while the key questions, above all the relationship with Pristina and the European path, are measured by concrete results rather than by the number of handshakes.

It remains to be seen how much of what was agreed in Manila will translate into tangible steps, from the participation of Asian countries at the Expo to votes in international bodies. Do appearances at gatherings such as the ASEAN summit genuinely strengthen Serbia’s position, or are they above all diplomatic routine that can only be measured months later?