Vucic: I pointed out to bin Zayed what Belgrade can accept in dialogue with Pristina

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan in Belgrade on Wednesday, pointing out the difficulties facing Serbia and what Belgrade can accept in the dialogue with Pristina.

"I said that Serbia's word means much more than someone's offer to sign something, but that, of course, there are things Serbia cannot even talk about," Vucic said at a press conference with bin Zayed.

Vucic noted that the discussions with the sheikh were very important because he had previously visited Pristina.

"I also received information about what his impressions are," Vucic said.

Thanking the UAE for supporting Serbia, Vucic said bin Zayed had outlined the present situation in the Gulf region, where he said nations lived in peace after years and decades of no dialogue and, in some cases, even wars.

"Today, everyone is talking to each other, and they have established long-term peace. Full stability. That is somehow visible in ever-improving relations further in the west, in the relations between Turkey and Greece," Vucic said.

He noted that the UAE wanted to see such relations established in the Balkans as well.

"That is our desire, too, because there is definitely no doubt that we believe normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina relations is substantial," Vucic said.

He added that he was not as optimistic as many others but that Belgrade would do its best for true normalisation of relations with Pristina.

He said he had extended "a special invitation to the president of the UAE" to also discuss the Open Balkan as "all of his and the UAE's political stances and investment and economic support are of great significance to Serbia."

He said many issues had been discussed with the UAE delegation.

"They are especially interested in creating mechanisms - be it in six months or a year or two - to prepare everything for private investments in case normalisation does take place. They would certainly participate to a significant extent in what is referred to in the documents themselves as a donor conference," Vucic said.

He said he was confident Serbia-UAE bilateral ties would continue to progress in the future.

Bin Zayed said a strategic partnership with Serbia was growing year by year in various areas of mutual interest, in particular in the economy and trade.

He said non-oil based goods trade had risen from around 13 mln dollars in 2012 to approximately 127 mln dollars in 2022, but noted that UAE-Serbia relations focused not only on the political and economic aspects but also on ties between the two nations.

He added that the UAE was home to over 5,000 Serbians employed in many sectors, such as entrepreneurship, education, health care and the aviation industry and that over 39,000 tourists had visited the UAE in 2022.

He noted that Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed's visit to Serbia in October 2022 had also confirmed the UAE's commitment to building bridges and aspirations to achieve peace, security and prosperity in the region, which he said was the fundamental characteristic of the UAE-Serbia partnership.

The closed-door meeting between Vucic and bin Zayed was followed by a plenary meeting also attended by Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, the head of the government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic and UAE Ambassador to Belgrade Mubarak Saeed Al Dhaheri.