Starović: Minister Selaković delivers vaccine donations in Africa today as well

He said on the Radio-Television of Serbia that Minister Selaković's visit to Africa, which began yesterday in Kenya, is extremely important.

"Today, the minister will first stay in Zimbabwe, where we will deliver 30,000 doses of vaccines, but also 65 tons of food products, bearing in mind the difficult humanitarian situation that, unfortunately, prevails in that country. Later in the day, the minister will visit Zambia, to which we are delivering 50,000 doses, and the visit will continue tomorrow, when the minister will deliver 50,000 doses in Angola and another 30,000 doses of vaccine in Namibia", Starović said.

He reminded that Minister Selaković handed over 40,000 doses of vaccines to Lebanon on Tuesday as a donation from Serbia, and emphasized that we are slowly getting a true picture of the way in which Serbia shows solidarity with countries that are in a far more difficult position.

"That is not the end, we expect the signing of an agreement on the donation of 50,000 doses of vaccines to the Islamic Republic of Iran and 40,000 doses to Tunisia in the coming days. There is still a certain number of countries where there is a clear readiness and agreement to realize similar donations in the coming days, but also weeks", says Starović.

He pointed out that Serbia is among the few countries that have had a lot of success in the early procurement of corona virus vaccines, whether we are talking about interstate arrangements with China and Russia or procurement from manufacturers themselves, such as Pfizer or AstraZeneca.

He stated that Serbia managed to procure enough doses so that every citizen could choose any vaccine for the first, second or now third, booster dose at any time.

"Unfortunately, many countries in the world have not been so successful. Let's just look at the African continent, which has 1.3 billion people. The total number of vaccines on the entire continent that have been provided so far is measured in tens of millions of doses, significantly below 100 million, and only two or three percent of the population on the African continent is completely immunized", said Starović.

He emphasized that Serbia had enough responsibility and a sense of solidarity to do what it could to help others, without endangering in any way the process of immunization in Serbia itself.

"In accordance with the provided quantities and the dynamics of their arrival in Serbia, we have singled out a significant number of vaccines. So far, we have donated more than 200,000 doses to the countries of the region. If we add to that the number of people from the region who came to Serbia to receive vaccines, that is about 400,000 citizens of the region who felt that expression of Serbia's solidarity", Starović stated.

He reminded that Serbia also donated 100,000 doses of vaccines to the Czech Republic, and if we add to that what Serbia has already donated and what it plans to donate to the countries of Africa and Asia these days, Starović says that we are slowly approaching the number of one million doses of vaccines which Serbia has either donated or will donate as soon as possible.

"If the much bigger, stronger and economically more powerful countries on the planet had shown at least half as much solidarity as Serbia has shown so far, I think the degree of terrible inequality that exists when we talk about the immunization process around the world would be far less", stressed the State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He also emphasized that the visit of Minister Selaković to South Africa has an invitational character for participation in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade in October.

"It is extremely important for all members of the Non-Aligned Movement and observer states, but also for us, because we will practically host this very important gathering marking the 60th anniversary of the first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, held in Belgrade in 1961. This gathering will have a primarily commemorative character, but it will also be an opportunity, and we hope that the circumstances will allow it, to gather more than 100 heads of state and government or foreign ministers at one place", said Starović.

He mentioned that the Non-Aligned Movement today includes 120 member states, a total of three fifths of UN member states, and that this speaks of what kind of political forum the conferences of the Non-Aligned Movement represent.

"We are seriously working on making Belgrade the capital of world diplomacy again, on 11 and 12 October", said Starović, adding that Minister Selaković, in addition to handing over donations in vaccines to African countries, is also handing out invitation letters for the celebration of the anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Regarding the events in Afghanistan, Starović says that we are all shaken by the scenes from Kabul, especially when it comes to people who are trying to get evacuated.

"As the Republic of Serbia, we have never been part of that conflict, we were not among the countries that participated in any armed intervention in Afghanistan, we appealed for peace and provided our good services to the warring parties in Afghanistan in helping to organize their meetings, several rounds of which were held in Belgrade", says Starović.

He stated that, unfortunately, we can expect a new wave of refugees in the coming months, and that it is therefore important that there is an adequate level of international cooperation to manage migration processes in the right way.

He reminded that at the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, during the great wave of migrants caused by the events in Syria, Serbia managed migration in a serious, responsible and humane way.

"More than a million migrants crossed the territory of Serbia. No one was hungry, thirsty, or without a roof over his head. If we find ourselves in that or a similar situation again, I am sure that Serbia will position itself in the same way", Starović said.

On the occasion of the evacuation of two Serbian citizens from Afghanistan, Starović said that another Serbian citizen was in Kabul, that she was currently safe, that her evacuation to one of the surrounding countries was being worked on and that she would travel to Uzbekistan next week.

He said that a much greater degree of solidarity and international cooperation is needed in order for the evacuation of foreign citizens and Afghans to be carried out as quickly as possible.

Asked about the violation of the Washington Agreement by Pristina, by calling on certain countries to recognize the so-called independence of Kosovo, Starović said that Belgrade would be ready to respond to those violations when the time comes, given that the moratorium expires on 4 September.

"We are fully committed to respecting the Washington Agreement", Starović said, adding that Pristina was drastically violating the document and that the latest example was the statement by the defense minister in Pristina, who publicly called on Azerbaijan, Georgia and some other countries to recognize the so-called independence of Kosovo.