Djuric Tells US Congress Aides: Serbia's Goal Is EU
Marko Djuric presented Serbia's foreign policy priorities to aides of US congressmen and senators, a month after the first round of the Strategic Dialogue with the United States in Washington.
Foreign Minister Marko Djuric met on September 8 in Belgrade with aides of US congressmen and senators, the Foreign Ministry announced. The statement did not specify how many delegation members attended. According to our information, this was the first meeting of its kind since the first round of the Strategic Dialogue between Serbia and the United States, held a little over a month ago in Washington.
Djuric walked his guests through Serbia’s results in the economy and infrastructure, as well as in preserving financial and energy stability, arguing that geopolitical conflicts elsewhere in the world are indirectly affecting the region as well. He named strengthening stability and cooperation in the Balkans and full Serbian membership in the European Union as the country’s main foreign policy goals.
The head of Serbian diplomacy reminded his interlocutors that the first round of the Strategic Dialogue between Belgrade and Washington had taken place in Washington a little over a month earlier. Per the ministry’s statement, the dialogue spans politics, security, energy, trade, investment, culture, science and people to people contacts, and is meant as a platform for further expanding bilateral cooperation.
The conversation also touched on the roughly one million Serbs living in the United States, whom the ministry describes as a bridge for deepening ties between the two countries. The statement adds that the United States is Serbia’s most important partner in services and information and communication technology. Toward the end of the meeting, the guests from Congress and the Senate had a chance to ask questions about Serbia’s positions on key regional and geopolitical issues, though the answers were not conveyed in the statement.
The meeting comes as, according to our September 6 report, Djuric is expected to soon take up the post of Serbia’s ambassador to the United Nations. The Foreign Ministry has not yet announced an official handover date for the portfolio.
