Dačić: Erdoğan’s inauguration shows state of affairs in international relations

04. Jun 2023.
“We are committed to preserving bilateral relations with Türkiye, which have been on the rise in the recent years, particularly when it comes to economic relations and tourism,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić said on the occasion of attending the inauguration of Recep Erdoğan after winning the presidential election.

"Sometimes we forget that it’s not just our people who visit Türkiye, but also that a large number of Turks visit Serbia. I’ve seen somewhere that there are 400,000 of their people here, maybe it’s the wrong number. It’s a huge thing, but this is the result of the fact that we have introduced a visa-free regime with them", Dačić said in his statement for Tanjug. Dačić added that a lot of dignitaries attended Erdoğan’s inauguration, and that it is possible on the basis of this to see the current state of affairs in international relations. "NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg was there, regardless of political disagreements. For NATO, Türkiye is a very important member; there was also Viktor Orbán. He, for instance, openly supported Erdoğan in this election, he even spoke out against the other candidate", Dačić explained.  

In respect of the crisis in north Kosovo, Dačić said that the international missions in Kosovo and Metohija must be as strong and numerous as possible and have adequate powers. Foreign Minister added that those who command KFOR need to understand the conditions they are working in, that is what their main goal is. "Here, KFOR practically entered the game in the 'second half' of these events, while the Albanians used the 'first half' to enter the building, to create a new reality. Instead of disabling special police units to be present in the north and preventing the so-called mayors to enter the buildings, KFOR entered in the 'second half' and stood in front, and it looked like it was protecting the mayors inside", Dačić assessed.  

He explained that unilateral moves by Albin Kurti make no one see what a more permanent solution for the issues in Kosovo and Metohija is. "In this situation no one thinks of writing a statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM); to keep going, you know, our main requirement is to create CSM, and it can’t be created until statute and other documents are adopted, and until the election process is completed", Dačić pointed out.  

Commenting on reactions from abroad with respect to the crisis in the north Kosovo, Foreign Minister said that they were two-sided. "We had two reactions these days. One was that everyone condemned the unilateral act of Pristina, and I have to say they were more severe than they used to be; however, they also condemned the attack on the KFOR units, which is the reason why President Vučić repeatedly pointed out to this. He said he is asking Serbs not to confront KFOR", Dačić said.   

When asked what he expected from the visit of Miroslav Lajčák and Gabriel Escobar, Dačić replied that they come to de-escalate the situation and added that Serbs are not a problem in terms of a constructive relationship. "The authorities in Pristina say they don’t care if the Serbs won’t participate in the institutions, which is exactly the opposite of 10 years ago. It’s important to be calm and try not to have any incidents, to keep people safe; it’s important for people to be safe and stay and live in north Kosovo", Dačić said. 

Source: Tanjug