Macut: We want to restore significance of old friendships, establish future prospects

BELGRADE - Pursuant to a government decision, Serbia is marking the Non-Aligned States' Movement Day on Monday, September 1, for the first time.

To mark the occasion, PM Djuro Macut, Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic and the ambassadors of India, Indonesia, Ghana and Egypt visited an exhibition staged in the National Assembly building to commemorate the first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, held in Belgrade in 1961.

The idea behind marking the Non-Aligned States' Movement Day is to restore the significance of old friendships and establish prospects for the future, Macut said.

"I am extremely pleased to be hosting today, alongside Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic, the founders of the NAM - representatives of five countries including Serbia as the successor of Yugoslavia," Macut told Tanjug.

He noted that the first NAM summit had been held in the parliament building in 1961.

At the time, the movement's founders laid the foundations for the NAM, now comprised of 120 countries, with Serbia as an observer state, he said.

"We continue the historic ideas of a world that is not divided between the East and the West and has no Cold War divisions and represents a view into the future of the 21st century," Macut said.

After a meeting with Macut, Brnabic and fellow ambassadors, Indonesian Ambassador to Belgrade Andreano Erwin told Tanjug such meetings were an opportunity to deepen cooperation among states.

"I believe next year will be important because 65 years since the establishment of the movement will be marked," he said.