Djuric: A historic visit by President Xi Jinping

"This visit is without exaggeration of a historic character and puts Serbia on the map of geopolitical events, raises our profile. It also has strategic and economic results", Djuric explained in his guest appearance on Euronews Serbia.

Djuric pointed out the importance of the fact that President Xi said that China would support the development of Serbia even more strongly in the economic sense with specific projects, as well as by exploring the possibility of opening various factories.

According to the Minister, there are two factors that are crucial for close relations with China: the first is that Serbia pursues an independent foreign policy, which was recognized by the Chinese leadership, and the second is the personal relationship between the two presidents.

"Serbia is its own small decision-making centre. But there is also the personal relationship that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has built with Chinese President Xi, which was evident from the first moment of the arrival of the Chinese head of state. Words of appreciation on a personal level could also be heard at the meetings, and also that the policy pursued by Vucic was a persistent, determined and independent policy. For a country of seven million people, this is something that enjoys the respect of China. The Chinese leadership has shown that it sees Serbia as one of the key partners in the world, but certainly the key one in Europe", Djuric underlined.

The head of Serbian diplomacy pointed out that close cooperation with China and Serbia's European path were not mutually exclusive.

"Serbia's strategic decision to be on the EU path is not in question, the European Union also cooperates closely with China. When Xi Jinping visited Europe in 2019, the GDP of all EU countries combined was equal to the GDP of China. Today, China's GDP is 15 percent greater than the GDP of all EU countries combined", Djuric noted.

He pointed out that Serbia's comparative advantage was that it had the closest relations with China and that it signed a joint statement on deepening cooperation with Beijing, as part of China's broader efforts to create a community for the future of humankind and solving global issues together, peacefully.

He reminded that in 2013, Serbia joined a similar statement at the initiative of China, which opened the door for additional economic cooperation.

"The same is the case now, and it will not diminish our capacity for cooperation with the EU. This will only increase the interest in Serbia among potential partners in the West", Djuric is confident.

He said that one of the important matters that united China and Serbia was Belgrade’s principled commitment to respecting international law, pertaining to any country.

"In its relationship with China, Serbia is not doing so based on daily political whims, but because that is a long-term strategic interest", Djuric stressed noting that the free trade agreement with China made Serbia the most attractive destination in this part of the world.

He assessed that visit by the Chinese President to Serbia was a turning point in global events and reminded that Serbia was the only destination he visited for the second time.

"For Serbia, which is facing enormous challenges and huge pressures, this extended hand of friendship and support has a historic significance. When Xi last visited Europe, he did not stay in the same destinations, except for Serbia. This shows that by pursuing a policy that is not easy and which is often criticized, we managed to put ourselves on the map, and those who criticize us now, while cooperating with China themselves, will have greater respect, because they will also offer more favourable political and economic conditions to compete for their position here. This is only possible as long as we conduct politics with a spine", Djuric underlined.

He noted that the message that the Chinese President shared publicly at a press conference regarding the aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 was very significant.

"Many people missed it, but President Xi emphasized at the conference that China will never allow what happened to friendly Serbia in 1999 to happen again", Djuric said.

Speaking about the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, Djuric pointed out that Albin Kurti's regime did not want membership in the Council of Europe so that the Serbs would have the right to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, but to consolidate the false statehood of “Kosovo” instead, and so that his like-minded followers of Greater Albanian politics would flood the Court in Strasbourg with lawsuits against Serbia for compensation.

He added that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic devoted a lot of time to this topic in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders and that the fact that many countries, which had strongly supported “Kosovo”, have now withdrawn was the result of those efforts.

"It is obvious that some centres do not like the independent and free foreign policy of Serbia and that is why they use secondary issues to put Serbia under pressure. They need to know that Serbia is a consistent, reliable and responsible partner, which means that they can count on cooperation, but also on strong resistance when unprincipled pressure is exerted", Djuric underlined.

On the occasion of marking 9 May, Europe Day, the head of Serbian diplomacy noted that Serbia would benefit from Europe, but that Europe would also benefit from Serbia, because it had something to offer, culturally, historically and in every other way. 

Minister Djuric said that he firmly believed that Serbia would become even better, more modern, but that traditional values would also be preserved.

"On our path to the EU, we will stick to our own principles and our own rules, to avoid the situation from that joke - the surgery succeeds, the patient dies. As for the future of Europe, the EU is faced with many challenges, but we should not be happy about it, because we are in the same boat, and when the German economy stutters, it also affects our economy. So, as the saying goes, 'let the neighbour's cow be alive and well, too'", Djuric said.