First DPM and FM Dačić with ambassador of the United Kingdom

At the beginning, Ambassador McLeod congratulated the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić on the assumption of office and wished him much success in future performance of duties.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dačić assessed the relations between the two countries as good and underlined that the political dialogue with the United Kingdom is particularly important, and added that this year marks the 185th anniversary of diplomatic relations. He also expressed hope that successful cooperation with the UK Government will continue in the future and that visits at different levels will be more frequent.

In this context, Dačić announced that on 4 November he had the opportunity to meet with the UK Minister of State, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, on the sidelines of the conference “Safety of Journalists: Protecting media to protect democracy” in Vienna, with whom he exchanged opinions on improving cooperation in the aforementioned areas.

When it comes to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, the two colleagues agreed that all efforts should be focused on the continuation of dialogue, since dialogue is the only right way to resolve open issues, and reach sustainable agreements.

Ambassador McLeod of the United Kingdom emphasised that the British side is interested in strengthening political dialogue, as well as economic cooperation, which has been developing dynamically in recent years.

Minister Dačić underlined Serbia’s interest in further improvement and diversification of foreign trade, as well as new investments from the UK.

The two colleagues also discussed further improvement of cooperation in the fields of energy security, defence, and culture.