Djuric: Serbia to gain a new base of friends through its presence in Tonga

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said today in Nuku'alofa, the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga, where the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting is being held, that by participating in that event Serbia made a strategic step forward in relations with the Pacific region.

Speaking to the press Minister Djuric emphasized that, by attending this summit, Serbia placed itself on the map of countries with which it previously had almost no relations, while being guided by the strategic vision of President Aleksandar Vucic aimed at building a network of friends around the world and a foreign policy of creating new strongholds.

"We believe in a network of strong, independent, free countries, which can be our friends on a number of topics, with which we can also have an excellent economic cooperation. We want to see them at Expo in Belgrade. We want to help wherever we can in the development of these countries", Djuric emphasized.

The Minister reminded that, with yesterday’s gala dinner dedicated to the Expo 2027 Specialized Exhibition, Serbia was the only country that made an effort to present itself to countries in this part of the world.

Djuric pointed out that the event hosted by Serbia, organized 18,000 kilometers away from Belgrade, was attended by more than 17 heads of state and government, foreign ministers, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, but also the European Commissioner for international partnerships.

"This also makes us a factor in relations with countries that are much larger, much stronger, and much closer to our region,” the Minister noted.

Explaining Serbia's relationship with the Pacific region, Djuric stated that this relationship cannot be viewed solely from the context of our ties with nations from that part of the world, but that the strengthening of those relations should also be seen from the perspective of our positioning in Europe and towards the wider international community.

"The more we manage to establish ourselves as an actor in places like this, the more we enhance our position as a factor in the international arena and gain leverage in the relations with some countries that are much closer to us and in our immediate environment," said the head of Serbian diplomacy.

Djuric emphasized that with its presence in Tonga, Serbia is gaining a new base of friends in a part of the world with which it has only begun to establish diplomatic relations in recent years.