Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ statements following his meeting with Deputy PM and Foreign Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dačić (Belgrade, 19.12.2022)

My dear Ivica,

Allow me to thank you for your very warm hospitality and for the kind invitation to come to Belgrade the day that you celebrate Sveti Nikola, the patron of so many Serbian families, also my name day. And also thank you for the honour to visit President Vučić at his house the day of the Protector Saint. It’s an honour for me. It’s an honour for Prime Minister Mitsotakis, but also, allow me to say, it’s an honour for the Greek people.

I noted that half of Serbia is celebrating today. And I am so proud and so happy to be part of it. Again thank you for your gift. Saint Nicolas is protecting me all my life. He always has a place, not only in my office but, if you allow me to say, in my house with my family and, most of all, in my heart.

We talked about our very close relations and again thank you so much for all these references to Corfu, my home island. It holds a very special place in Serbian history. And let's agree that our next meeting, as in the past when we were Interior Ministers, will take place there.

I have to say that our close cooperation, the cooperation, not only between the Government, but between ourselves and between President Vucic and Prime Minister Mitsotakis, is essential for the region’s stability. Greece is committed to further strengthening our strategic relations in all fields. I’m accompanied today by Ambassador Sofia Grammata, who is our Special Envoy for the Western Balkans. Allow me to underline a clear message. That Greece has always been and will always be in favour of the European Union membership perspective of Serbia and of Western Balkans. We believe that Serbia is an integral part of Europe and the European Union is where Serbia belongs. And we will continue helping Serbia towards that path. Also, we must keep the impetus of the region’s path towards the accession process and we must not allow third parties to take advantage of delays. We believe that all in the Balkan peninsula must have a common future. And a future we should shape together.  

And I have to say that I am stressing this not to you, my friend, not to President Vučić only, not to the Serbian Government only, but to Serbian society, to our brothers, the Serbian people. We have to be optimistic about the common future and we have to see forward 20 years from now as the whole region belongs to the EU.

I have to say, also, that we wish to see Serbia continue its course in the fundamental fields according to the European acquis. And we are ready to help as much as we can.

Also, we discussed Kosovo. I reiterated our position on Kosovo. We fully support the continuation of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, with a view to reaching a comprehensive, legally binding Agreement. The implementation of what has been agreed between the two sides - the signature is there - is important. And as we always say, “pacta sunt servanda”. As I told you, I will be in Pristina tomorrow and I will repeat exactly what I am saying here in Belgrade.

We discussed how to promote our regional cooperation. This is of extreme importance. We discussed about two trilateral schemes: one between Greece, Serbia and North Macedonia. And another one between Greece, Serbia and Albania.

Our bilateral relations also cover [other] issues: energy, communications, tourism, trade, renewables. There are a lot of things we can do together. But also, it was so important to underline our will to enhance this very close relationship.

And I was so happy, thanks to you, to talk to my friend Želimir Obradović who was in Belgrade today. Allow me to say, we miss him, we miss his coachship in basketball. I think Želimir Obradović is one of the most valuable coaches in basketball today in the world. And we were so lucky to have him.

Unfortunately, my dear Ivica, we are not living in calm times. I am also speaking about revisionism which combined with Neo-ottoman aspirations and threats of war is something that Greece has to face everyday, in Türkiye’s irrational narrative.

But I would like to say from here, Belgrade, openly, that Greece will continue to defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights in the context of International Law and International Law of the Sea. And we will spare no lawful means to defend those rights.   

Again, in that context, I want to thank you, here in Belgrade, for your statements in Athens last month. And also, for your interview with Kathimerini newspaper regarding Greece’s sovereignty and sovereign rights. Also I would like to express our gratitude for your clear position on the Cyprus issue.

Again, my dear Ivica,

I am grateful that I am here today with you, but I am also making a promise: I will come back on the 16th of November 2023 on St. George’s Day. Because as you know, I have two names, Nicolas and Georgios. So, I will make it a tradition that as long as I am able to, I will be coming to Belgrade [on St. George’s Day].

Thank you so much for your kind hospitality.