Dacic: Türkiye is in favour of honouring the previously signed agreements with Pristina
Dacic pointed out that it was not realistic to expect that Türkiye would change its position on the status of Kosovo and Metohija, but that it was important for Serbia to preserve peace, to avoid incidents.
"Erdoğan will certainly, in all the talks he will have with Pristina, as will all Turkish officials, emphasize that it is necessary to respect all agreements, that it is necessary to have a dialogue and preserve peace. For us, it is enough that someone will make such an impact, so that those in Pristina do not get the impression that they enjoy support to obstruct peace agreements and threaten peace and stability in the region", Dacic emphasized.
The head of Serbian diplomacy underlined that all the meetings he had in Ankara today took place in an atmosphere indicating that the relations between the two countries were on the rise and that they may be at their historical maximum, and that this was reflected in both political and economic relations.
"The trade in goods is at 2.5 billion at the moment, and we have set a goal of five billion, and maybe more. There are numerous investments from Türkiye, participation in infrastructure projects, not only in Serbia, but also in the region, such as the highway to Sarajevo", Dacic said.
He said that, however, our greatest achievement was that we are each other's partners and that we are not part of the problems in the region, but factors of peace and stability instead.
He added that we are committed, regardless of the opposition of the EU, to preserving the visa-free regime with Türkiye, to be able go to that country with identity cards and that now we should by no means allow that we take a step backwards and introduce visas again.
"We will ratify the agreement on identity cards in the parliament for this tourist season so that both our and their citizens can travel with identity cards. In addition, we will preserve the agreement on free trade, which enables us to do all this", the Serbian Foreign Minister said.
He pointed out that he used the opportunity to convey regards from President Vucic to President Erdoğan and to facilitate a telephone conversation between them.
"They talked on the phone and President Erdoğan said that Vucic was a great friend of his and that he would try to pay a visit to visit Serbia in February, although this was quite difficult because they have elections ahead of them. This is particularly important to us because it encourages stability", Dacic said.
He emphasized that, in addition to Erdoğan's bilateral visit to Belgrade, on which he made an agreement in the conversation with Vucic, Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was preparing a diplomatic forum in Antalya in March, to which both he and President Vučić were invited.
When asked by journalists which areas this would pertain to, Dacic replied that it was very difficult to say, because the cooperation was developed in almost all areas.
"What we need to do is make use of the benefits from that as long as we can, because if we join the EU, and when we do, that will no longer be possible. Because the EU does not tolerate free trade agreements with Türkiye, China, or Russia, nor with the Emirates or anyone else", Dacic said.
The potentials are huge, he said, adding that in the beginning there were two flights a week to Ankara, and now there are five or six a week.
"There is a great all-round interest in doing business. Turks like to visit Serbia as tourists, and Serbs like to come here mainly in the summer. People from our region who are here in Türkiye also represent a great value", the Serbian head of diplomacy concluded.
Source: Tanjug
Photo: MFA
