Address of Minister Dačić on the Celebration of the Day of Consular Service

We present the complete speech of Minister Ivica Dačić delivered at the ceremony on this occasion:

Dear colleagues,

Dear guests,

Dear friends,

It is my great pleasure to have the opportunity to celebrate the 2 June, the Day of Consular Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with you today. I will remind you that, on this date in 1804, Karađorđe Petrović authorised the most prominent Serbs to collect aid for the needs of the then insurgent Serbia.

Although Serbia was not yet recognized under the international law, it had all the characteristics of an established state and tried to maintain political relations with great powers such as Russia, Austria, and France. The maintenance and development of consular relations were of great significance and undoubtedly contributed to gaining independence and international legal recognition.

Dear friends,

Let me remind your that the first Serbian diplomatic and consular representation (Serbian agency) was opened in 1836 in Bucharest, on the basis of Decree issued by  Prince Miloš Obrenović. In this way, the full diplomatic and consular protection of Serbian citizens living on the territory of Wallachia and Moldavia and/or their interests was provided. 

Only after the 1878 Berlin Congress, Serbia opened its representation as an independent country in Rome , New York and Sofia (1879), Budapest (1882), Trieste (1884)  etc.

Today, the Republic of Serbia has a wide-spread consular network, namely 22 general consulates, 1 consulate, 2 consular offices, 72 consular departments at embassies across of the world and 90 consulates headed by honorary consuls in foreign countries, which is a testimony of our developed friendly, economic and cultural connections across of the world.

We are all aware of the significance of consular service and consular activities, which confirms itself constantly through what we would primarily and most simply define as providing protection to our citizens abroad. However, the nature of consular activities is significantly more complex and in time gains on scope, complexity, and significance. We live in the times marked by all more complex threats and crises that inevitably affect us.

Natural disasters, conflicts and pandemics automatically activate consular service, because there is an awareness that duly provided help to the endangered is both our obligation and our responsibility. Let us only remember the COVID-19 pandemics, when about 20,000 Serbians citizens passed through the premisses of the Consular service of the Ministry in only one month, in the process of evacuation.                                

Out of the above number, 5010 of our citizens were returned to the Republic of Serbia in 37 flights of the national airline Air Serbia, but there was also a big number of foreign citizens who left the Republic of Serbia by the same flights. This is only one illustration of our dedication and devotion. We are aware that the Consular Service does not recognize the term " working hours", because the accident does not choose either place or time. Especially sensitive, by all means, are the matters from the domain of family relations -  children kidnapping, mortal outcomes, hospital treatments abroad.

These matters are always dealt with special attention and maximum commitment at the Ministry. We care that each individual case be resolved within the framework of available possibilities, norms and established consular practice. In the period of major migratory challenges facing the entire Europe, the visa politics of the Republic Serbia has become a segment of consular activities which gained on specially importance. Alignment of visa policy of the Republic of Serbia with the visa policy of the EU is one of the priorities of the Ministry, worked upon diligently. In addition to the provision of consular services, an important segment covers the activities of the Consular Service towards the cooperation with Serbian diaspora in the field of culture, education, preservation of language and tradition, with the aim to preserve the national identity.

Dear friends,

Modernization of work of the consular service is one of the priorities of the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that is why we pay special attention to  digitization and modernization of work of Consular Affairs Service.

In modern functioning of the Ministry and diplomatic and consular network, timely information is a very significant segment.

Invested are significant efforts with the aim to promote digital presence of the Ministry and easier availability of all relevant information and contents.

I would like to stress on this occasion that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and myself highly appreciate the engagement and efforts of all the engaged in the Sector for consular affairs and in our diplomatic and consular representations.

Moreover, I would like to thank the representatives of other state authorities who are present today on this conference, because without your help and cooperation our work would not be possible.

I would like to congratulate the holiday once again to all my colleagues, wishing them a lot of success in the future in carrying out the responsible tasks in the field of protection of rights and interests of the Republic of Serbia and our citizens.

The second June is celebrated as a Day of Consular Service in honour of the authorization granted on that day in 1804 by Karađorđe Petrović to the prominent Serbs to gather help in foreign countries for the needs of the insurgent Serbia.

The consular relations of the insurgent Serbia and other states were then established.