Foreign Minister: Belgrade to Host Conference Celebrating 60th Anniversary of Non-Aligned Movement Next Week

Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic (Photo: Beta)

Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic said on Oct. 6 that more than 100 foreign delegations, including nearly 40 foreign ministers, had applied for a conference to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade, early next week. 

"It will be one of the largest multilateral conferences in Europe this year," Selakovic said in an interview with Pink TV, adding that it spoke volumes about the reputation of the country. As he put it, Serbia's strategic goal was to join the European Union (EU), but Serbia refused to give up its traditional friends, which included "not only Russia and China, but members of the Non-Aligned Movement as well." 

The minister explained that the Movement was tied not only to Josip Broz Tito, for everything Yugoslavia did to assist liberation movements, decolonization and peaceful coexistence, but also Belgrade, which for many nations was "a window to the free world." A testimony to this is an exceptionally large number of guests amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Minister Selakovic said.