Lamberto Zannier

The OSCE Ministerial Council meeting on Thursday and Friday in Belgrade will be the culmination of Serbia's one-year chairmanship of the international security body.

Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, who is the 2015 OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, said critical issues such as the Ukraine situation, the refugee crisis and terrorism would be discussed.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said in Belgrade after meeting with OSCE Chairperson Ivica Dacic that Serbia had been a strong and constructive leader.

"Serbia has been a strong leader, navigating the difficult waters,“ he said at a joint press conference late on Tuesday with Dacic, Serbia's foreign minister, ahead of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Belgrade.

OSCE secretary general: Ceasefire generally respected

BELGRADE -- OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said on Wednesday in Belgeade that the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is "generally respected."

"Now the key stage should be used to set up working groups and step up negotiations and implementation of the Minsk agreement," Tanjug quoted him as saying.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson Ivica Dacic and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said on Wednesday the situation in eastern Ukraine was showing signs of progress.

EU "not asking" that Serbia snubs Moscow parade

BELGRADE -- The participation of Serbian soldiers in the military parade in Moscow on May 9 "does not affect Serbia's attitude towards European integration."

It also does not affect the country's obligations undertaken when it became the chair of the OSCE, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in Belgrade on Wednesday.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic talked in Belgrade on Wednesday with representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and underscored that Serbia, as the country that is currently holding the OSCE chairmanship, will do everything in its power to ensure that the ceasefire in Ukraine is fully respected.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu on Friday and Saturday in Riga will participate in the informal meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers from European Union (EU) member states (Gymnich type), informs the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE).

Photo credit: (c) ANGELO BREZOIANU / AGERPRES STREAM

OSCE officials urge investigation into Nemtsov murder

VIENNA, BELGRADE -- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ivica Dacic and Secretary General Lamberto Zannier on Monday condemned the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

They urged "a swift and thorough investigation."

"I offer my deepest condolences to his family," Dacic said.

BELGRADE - OSCE Chairperson-in-office and Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic will confer with the ambassadors of the OSCE Troika, which aside from Serbia includes Switzerland and Germany, in Vienna on Friday.

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs and OSCE Chairman Ivica Dacic visited the OSCE Mission in Belgrade on Thursday and announced that he will also visit the missions in Skopje and Podgorica in February, while he would pay a visit to the OSCE mission in Pristina in March.