Selaković: Ties between Serbia and its African friends strengthened

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Nikola Selaković, said today, summarizing the results of his visit to Africa, during which he visited Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Angola, that Serbia is recognized as a friendly country in that part of the world, and that there is a general mood towards renewing and improving the ties, which are based on traditionally close relations, established during the time of the former Yugoslavia.

Selaković pointed out that he had received clear messages from African friends in support of our national interest and the preservation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty, because Serbia shares the same values with those countries.

"How can I not be satisfied with the fact that our Serbia, which was on the verge of economic ruin only seven years ago, is giving vaccines to its African friends today. It is a great success for us, and the reactions of our friends are a serious recognition for our state leadership, for President Vučić and the Government of Serbia, for everything we managed to do to get into this situation", said Selaković.

Minister Selaković pointed out that millions of people in Africa crave a vaccine against the corona virus, and that those who are ready to provide that kind of help, receive the sincerest human gratitude.

"And when they remember the help that was once provided by Yugoslavia, which came from Belgrade, then it takes on a whole new dimension and then we talk about traditional friendship", Selaković explained.

"The kind of friendship that you can feel here when people don't ask you for anything and when they don't condition you with anything, is something that is rarely found", said the head of Serbian diplomacy.

Selaković pointed out that today he received a message from the presidents of Namibia and Angola that they want to visit Belgrade so that relations between our countries may continue to deepen at the highest level, but also that a clear readiness of friendly African countries was shown to participate in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement.

"Thing are like this today, when the state delegation comes, tomorrow it will be like that when the business delegation comes here. Our task is to open those doors, because the task of politicians is to open the doors to businessmen, to connect peoples and to help cooperation in all fields", Selaković said.

According to him, there are many ways to cooperate with African countries for mutual benefit, exchange of experiences and providing expert assistance, but also a more significant return of Serbian companies to that continent.

"People here admire what Serbia has managed to do in seven years through the reforms initiated by Aleksandar Vučić. Our African friends are also interested in those experiences, how to economically and fiscally consolidate the state, how to create a state in which it will not be most popular to work in the public sector, but to have a state in which the private sector is the engine of development", said the head of Serbian diplomacy.

Selaković expressed his belief that in the near future we will have Serbian companies that will invest more and more in Africa and that will open factories on that continent.