Dacic: Decision to postpone Rama's visit positive

BELGRADE - Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic stated on Monday that the decision to postpone the visit of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to Belgrade is positive, and added that Serbia has the political will to overcome problems.

The visit of the Albanian prime minister which was originally scheduled for October 22 has been postponed after the incident which occurred during the European championship qualifier match between Serbia and Albania in Belgrade on October 14. The match was abandoned after a brawl that followed the appearance of a drone with a flag depicting the so-called Greater Albania, a nationalist project that would include parts of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece.

"I believe it is positive that the visit was not cancelled and was instead postponed for two weeks, having in mind the situation following the football match and it is also positive so that joint efforts could be invested in the preparation of a positive climate for such meetings," Dacic told reporters after the meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous.

Serbia is unambiguously committed to the continuation of regional cooperation and open talks on all problems and problematic situations so as to prevent them from happening again in the time to come.

He stated that the incident during the football match between Serbia and Albania last Tuesday is not a good sign.

"This gives rise to tensions, negative developments of the relations and regional instability," Dacic underscored and added that whole truth needs to be established as to the ways in which the incidents occurred and the source of 'the famous drone'.

"I thought that UAVs are...