FM Djuric Says Will Invest Efforts into Improving Relations with Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Marko Djuric (mfa.gov.rs)

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said on Oct. 4 that he would invest great effort into improving relations with Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Djuric pointed out that the relations Serbia had with Hungary, North Macedonia and Albania today were proof that "regardless of the history of relations that did not always start off with trust and benevolent cooperation, [those relations] can be changed," and that relations with "other neighbors" should be enhanced following the same model.

In an interview with the Politika newspaper, the minister said that advancement of relations with the U.S. was "an urgent state and national interest," in which think tanks and non-profit organizations were important factors.

Djuric added that the recently signed agreement on strategic cooperation in energy between Serbia and the U.S. was a sort of public confirmation of "the U.S. political establishment's readiness" to invest in the future of Serbia and its development.

"The question of Kosovo and Metohija remains a core point of disagreement in Serbia-U.S. relations, but a positive step forward is the fact that today we are managing to talk in a more meaningful and productive way than we have in the past, even about that topic," said the minister.