Verbal protest to the Ambassador of Australia for the treatment of Novak Djokovic

Ambassador of Australia to Serbia, Daniel Emery, was lodged an oral protest at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia due to the inappropriate treatment to which the best tennis player in the world and a citizen of Serbia Novak Djokovic was exposed in Melbourne.

State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Nemanja Starović expressed the expectation that Ambassador Emery will make personal efforts to enable Djokovic to wait for a court decision on whether he can stay in Australia in accommodation that is adequate for an athlete of his rank.

According to him, Serbia does not want to influence the pending decision of the Australian judiciary in any way, but it expects the executive authorities of that country, in the spirit of good bilateral relations between Australia and Serbia, and in accordance with their competencies, to allow Djokovic to spend Christmas in better accommodation.

Starović emphasized that the Serbian public has a strong impression that Djokovic is a victim of the political game against his will and that he was lured to travel to Australia in order to be humiliated.

State Secretary Starović pointed out that Novak Djoković was not a criminal, terrorist or illegal migrant but that he was treated like one by the Australian authorities, which caused understandable indignation of his fans and citizens of Serbia.

The day before, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia lodged a protest note to the Embassy of Australia in Belgrade while our Embassy in Canberra sent the one to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia.