May 24, 2021

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selakovic met today with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden, Ann Linde.

At the joint press conference, Selakovic said that the OSCE was one of the most important international security organizations for Serbia, adding that our country has always been and remains committed to strengthening the OSCE's capacity.

In that regard, he specified that 46 of our citizens are currently engaged with the OSCE missions.

"We are very carefully following the activities and support the priorities set by the Swedish chairpersonship of the OSCE, which Minister Linde had the opportunity to present at the meeting today. We also uphold the efforts of the OSCE aimed at finding a way, in the period ahead, to reach a consensus on the adoption of the OSCE budget for 2021", Selakovic said.

He pointed out that the OSCE was of special importance for Serbia, bearing in mind that there were two OSCE missions on the territory of our country, in Belgrade and Pristina.

"We have exceptional cooperation with the OSCE Mission in Belgrade. OSCE Mission has provided its assistance and support to Serbia's path of reforming its society in the last more than 20 years, and we are convinced that in the period ahead we will have the opportunity to continue this good cooperation," Selakovic said.

He said that a status-neutral approach was extremely important for Belgrade when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija, and added that the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and Metohija was the most visible status-neutral mission in the entire OSCE, including also on the ground, when it comes to our southern Province.

"We received assurances that the well-used practice of respecting this status neutrality by the OSCE will be continued during the Swedish chairpersonship, both in terms of action on the ground and during visits to Kosovo and Metohija and participation of representatives of the provisional institutions of self-government in meetings with OSCE mission in Kosovo and Metohija ", Selakovic said.

He stated that the reforms that are being carried out in Serbian society were also discussed at the meeting.

"We touched on the issues of preserving and protecting human rights, media freedoms, and especially gender equality, greater representation of women in the functioning of our political system and public institutions," Selakovic said.

He said that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina was also discussed at the meeting as something that was, as he pointed out, essential for the further functioning of the entire region, and not just for the protection of our state and national interests.

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office emphasized the strong partnership between the OSCE and Serbia concerning the strategic priorities, stressing that Serbia has made general progress and adding that the focus should now be on independence of the judiciary, promotion of free and independent media and the fight against organized crime.

As she pointed out, the OSCE was ready to continue supporting Serbia's path.

Linde emphasized the role of Serbia in supporting regional security and added that it was highly commendable that Serbia offered vaccination to countries in the region.

She said that Sweden would continue to provide strong support to Serbia's EU integration course, adding that she was looking forward to further strengthening cooperation between the OSCE and Serbia, as well as between Sweden and Serbia.