Selaković: Colleagues from Africa expressed admiration and respect for the successes of Serbia

The head of Serbian diplomacy said on TV Pink that the main reason for his visit to Africa was the delivery of vaccines, but also stated that Serbia donated food on that occasion, and that he also handed out invitations to African officials for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade, on 11 and 12 October.

"Serbia, which was on the verge of collapse seven years ago, thanks to the serious, responsible and visionary policy of President Aleksandar Vučić, finds itself today in a situation to be able to donate more than 200,000 vaccines to friends", said Minister Selaković, adding that we donated vaccines to Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Angola, and that in the meantime, vaccine contingents have been delivered to Tunisia and Iran.

Looking back on his visit to Africa, Minister Selaković stated that the delegation he led covered 20,434 kilometers in 11 days, which is about half the circumference of the globe.

"On behalf of President Aleksandar Vučić and our government, I had the opportunity to talk with four heads of state, with the presidents of Lebanon, Angola, Namibia and Egypt, seven foreign ministers, two deputy foreign ministers, nine other ministers in other countries, one chief of general staff, two prime ministers and three parliament speakers", said Minister Selaković.

He emphasized that his colleagues from Africa expressed great admiration and respect for what Serbia has managed to do in the past seven years.

"Serbia has many friends in the world, we should not be just Eurocentric, we should not constantly look only at the Western world, although that is important for us, although we are a country committed to its European path, which sees itself as a full member of the EU, but we must never forget that, for example, the two countries I visited, Zimbabwe and Zambia, were two of only six countries that opposed the introduction of sanctions to the FRY in 1992", the head of Serbian diplomacy emphasized.

He pointed out that all the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that he visited did not recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, and that many officials used the opportunity to repeat that position in talks with the Serbian delegation.

"The Minister of Zimbabwe said: we respect international law, we are committed to respecting the UN Charters, the decisions of the United Nations Security Council and the resolutions on Kosovo and Metohija passed in the UNSC, but there is one more thing, we support Serbia because we trust you, we believe that you are right, we believe in what happened as you presented it to us. It is something that will last. It was necessary to have character, when many did not have it, and to raise a hand for our country. We need to remember that well", said Minister Selaković.

As another reason for his visit to Africa, he stated the invitation to participate in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Non-Aligned Movement, and stressed that he was convinced that a large number of heads of state and foreign ministers would gather at the meeting in Belgrade on 11 and 12 October.

"Regardless of the epidemiological conditions, especially when there are talks that the UN General Assembly will not sit, we have the opportunity for Belgrade to become the center of the world for those two days", said Minister Selaković.

During 11 days of the tour, Minister Selaković also visited Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.

He said that the visit to Jordan was the first visit of a Serbian foreign minister after 30 years, that Jordan is one of the countries where we do not have an ambassador, and pointed out that Jordan is recognized in the Middle East as a pillar of stability.

"It is a country with which we have not had official communication at a high level for 30 years. Our delegation was warmly welcomed, we had excellent talks", said Minister Selaković, adding that the Jordanian delegation confirmed its arrival in Belgrade on 11 and 12 October, and that he was convinced that high-ranking Jordanian officials would come to Serbia before the end of the year.

He announced that Serbia would appoint an honorary consul in Jordan, and that it would also consider opening an embassy.

On the occasion of his visit to Egypt, Minister Selaković said that he had the honor of being hosted by the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, for whom he says is a serious and great leader, who is changing Egypt using giant strides.

"I spoke with President Sisi for an hour and 40 minutes. I have heard things that fill you with pride when the president of such a powerful state tells you about our president and what is being done in Serbia and expresses respect. These were the words of a state leader who started and built 14 completely new cities, where there was a desert, of which one city is the new capital of Egypt. New Cairo is being built, currently there are 140,000 workers on that one construction site alone", said Minister Selaković.

He emphasized that it is of key importance for us to have a meeting between Presidents Sisi and Vučić, as well as that Serbia and Egypt are traditionally friendly countries.

"The future is built on good traditional relations, and the future of our relations exists. We should use the chance, and for that, we need to host President Sisi as soon as possible", says Minister Selaković.

He pointed out that during his visit to the friendly and fraternal Lebanon, he saw the serious political problems that the country is facing, which is trying to recover from the financial crisis and the explosion in Beirut a year ago.

In those moments, says Minister Selaković, you can see how important leadership is, as well as having a serious, stable man at the head of the state and someone who is able to make decades-long strategic plans.