Serbian foreign minister reveals his favorite counterpart

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says he has "fair relations" with all his colleagues, both from the East and from the West.

However, he revealed in an interview for the daily Vecernje Novosti, he gets along best with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

"I'm not saying it for political reasons or because of Russophilia, but because our meetings are always pleasant, we socialize nicely," Dacic said.

When the interviewer remarked that he cared about Lavrov "because of (Russian MFA spokesperson Mariha) Zakharova, with whom he exchanges personal gifts," Dacic said that there was "some truth in that."

"She will be among the first to whom I will wish all the best in the new year. We also agreed that she should visit Belgrade in March," he said.

According to the minister, it is of great importance for Serbia that he has at least two meetings a year with Lavrov, in Belgrade and in Moscow, and added that he was "attempting to establish that with China, too."

During informal meetings, a lot can be discovered about people who publicly mostly wear a strict diplomatic facade, Dacic continued.

Thus, he revealed, "his great friend and one of the greatest friends of the Serbian people," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, "performs the jazz variant of the song 'Moscow Nights' excellently."

"I send him Gorki List (bitter) and quince (brandy) regularly. But, since he became defense minister, he's been using that less. The advantage of my manner of communication with my colleagues is that I don't need formal bilateral meetings, I talk to them in every place, wherever we meet," Dacic said.

Read more

  • Thaci pardons killers of 5 members of Hajra family
  • "Only I have the guts to call a spade a spade," says Vucic
  • New Year welcomed across Serbia
  • Krstajic to...
Continue reading on: