28 January 2021 The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic at the gathering on the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Serbia and the US

28 January 2021 The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic at the gathering on the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Serbia and the US

Thursday, 28 January 2021

Dacic: Relations between Serbia and the United States Have Experienced a Great Positive Trend in the Last Few Years

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic addressed the conference on the Serbian Citizens’ attitude towards the United States, stressing that relations between Serbia and the United States have experienced a great positive trend in recent years and though the two countries have not “swept under the carpet” some of their differences, especially around Kosovo-Metohija, they have moved on.


Dacic said that Serbia expects the new American President Biden and the new American administration would use the mutual relations’ upward trend and, for their part, continue to enrich it with new types of cooperation.

At the conference/presentation of the findings of the poll on the attitude of the Serbian citizens towards the United States, Dacic said that the two countries have moved on, holding on to what unites them, not what separates them.

“Is there any better confirmation than the words of President Biden, then US Vice President, in Belgrade four years ago, that Serbia is a key political and economic cornerstone for the entire region and that Serbia's leadership is extremely important for this part of Europe. Is there a better confirmation of our new relations than the visit of President Vucic to Washington, his talks with the then President Trump and a series of good agreements concluded during the visit", Dacic said, adding that Serbia and America are on the right track to completely renew relations, partnerships and friendships, the way they were in the greatest period of their common history.

"That history is 140 years long. We need to remind ourselves of that, especially today, when Serbia and the United States have stepped out of the period of mutual conflict and se one another as a true partner", said Ivica Dacic.

Dacic said that building mutual respect was not an easy job of which he has first-hand experience, because he participated in it as Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior and as head of diplomacy.

"The governments of Serbia and the United States made great efforts to return their countries’ relations to the level they had for the most part of their common history. I participated in that process myself. I find it especially important to work together to nurture, and sometimes reclaim from oblivion, the events from our glorious common past when stood side by side in the fight for a free and democratic world in both world wars", Dacic reminded the attending.

He said that looking to the past is important, but we should first of all deal with the future, and the survey on the citizens’ attitude towards the United States provides an excellent insight into the mood of citizens.

"We have seen that a huge percentage, almost half of the surveyed citizens, expect the relations between Serbia and America to continue to improve in the next five to ten years and they expect them to be the best, friendly, at the level they were during the First and Second World War", Dacic remarked.

He added that it is especially important, and it speaks of the support of the policy Serbia has been pursuing for years, that America is expected to support our country in the field of economy - its development, increase of trade, technological progress.

"These are more than clear guidelines for the way we should pursue our relations in the coming years and they completely coincide with the policy pursued by both governments, both in Belgrade and in Washington", said National Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic.

The following is the speech of the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in its entirety:

Dear President of the Republic,

Dear guests and conference organizers,

Thank you for the initiative to hold this gathering and especially to conduct a survey on the relations between Serbia and the United States, because it comes at the right time. Not only because the newly elected US President Joseph Biden and his administration took office only a week ago, but above all because the overall relations between our two countries have been experiencing a great positive trend in the last few years, so it is the right time to see what our citizens think we should talk about it.

Serbia and America are on the right track to completely renew the relations of partnership and friendship, the way they were in the greatest period of their common history. That history is 140 years long, this year we will mark that great jubilee and, as far as Serbia is concerned, we will try to make it another good chance to remind ourselves of the cooperation and friendship that our two countries have nurtured during their long common history. We need to remind ourselves of that, especially today, when Serbia and the United States have stepped out of the period of mutual conflict and look at each other as a true partner. Building that mutual respect was not an easy job, I can testify to that first hand, because I have participated in it all these years as Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior, and especially as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The recent history of our relations is burdened by the disintegration of Yugoslavia, its consequences for the Balkans, and especially the bombing of Serbia in 1999. It was a period of conflicting relations, when they reached their lowest possible point, and we can see that they left a deep mark on the results of the survey before us. Several years ago, Serbia rationally and pragmatically concluded that it could achieve its most important interests only through cooperation with America, not in conflict with it. America came to the same conclusion when it comes to its interests in Europe and especially in the Balkans.

Neither Serbia nor America have swept some of their disagreements under the carpet, especially on the issue of Kosovo-Metohija, but they have moved on, holding on to what unites them, not what separates them. Is there any better confirmation than the words of President Biden, then US Vice President, in Belgrade four years ago, that Serbia is a key political and economic cornerstone for the entire region and that Serbia's leadership is extremely important for this part of Europe. Is there a better confirmation of our new relations than the visit of President Vucic to Washington, his talks with the then President Trump and a series of good agreements concluded during the visit.

The governments of Serbia and the United States made great efforts to return their countries’ relations to the level they had for the most part of their common history. I myself participated in that process, through numerous conversations with senior American officials from various administrations, as a participant in many gatherings organised by the United States Government, such as those on the promotion of religious freedoms or in the work of the global coalition to fight the Islamic State. But I find our joint work on nurturing, and sometimes reclaiming from oblivion, the events from our glorious common past, when we stood side by side in the fight for a free and democratic world in both world wars, especially important.

The reminder that the Serbian and American people were the founders of the modern order of freedom and democracy was especially important during the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, when many in Serbia and America heard for the first time of the Serbian flag flying in Washington and President Wilson calling on his compatriots to pay their respects to the brave Serbian people in the magnificent fight against the common enemy. I had the immense pleasure to, as Secretary of State, together with my American friends, personally promote these days of remembrance of our togetherness in difficult times, which we should be proud of to this day.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Looking to the past is important, but we are here primarily to deal with the future. The survey before us provides an excellent insight into the mood of citizens on the Serbian-American relations and the findings are very interesting. I will focus only on those that concern the citizens’ expectations for the future, because they also contain instructions for all of us who represent them in state institutions. We have seen that a huge percentage, almost half of the surveyed citizens, expect the relations between Serbia and America to continue to improve in the next five to ten years and they expect that they will be the best, friendly, at the level they were at during the First and Second World Wars. It is especially important, and speaks of the support for the policy we have been pursuing for years, that America is expected to support Serbia in the field of economy - its development, increase in trade, technological progress. These are more than clear guidelines on the path we should take in our relations in the coming years and they completely coincide with the policy pursued by both governments, both in Belgrade and in Washington.

In this regard, Serbia expects the new US President and the new US administration would take advantage of this upward trend and, for their part, continue to enrich it with new forms of cooperation. We are ready for it and we look forward to continuing what we started.

Thank you!


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thursday, 28 march
  • 9.00 - consultations of representatives of the parliamentary groups about the election of deputy chairpersons of the National Assembly working bodies (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 1)

  • 10.00 - visit of the students of Stevan Dukic Elementary School to the National Assembly House (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square)

  • 11.00 - visit of the students of Drinka Pavlovic Elementary School Student Parliament to the National Assembly House (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square)

  • 11.00 - press conference of the Green-Left Front – Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)оwn Parliamentary Group (National Assembly House 13, Nikola Pasic Square. Central Hall)

  • 13.00 - the National Assembly Speaker meets with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Serbia (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, Speaker’s Cabinet)

Full event calendar