BELGRADE, January 3. /TASS/. Russia is always open to contacts with Serbia, while staying aware of how very busy that country is at the moment, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a message of congratulations to his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic on the occasion of the New Year holidays and the minister's birthday. The message was made public by the press service of the Serbian Foreign Ministry on Monday.
"We are always open to contacts with Serbian friends," the message reads. Lavrov’s handwritten comment to the typed text says: "Although I understand that you are very busy now."
Lavrov recalled that in 2022, "Russian-Serbian relations have once again been tested for strength" amid adverse international circumstances. The Russian foreign minister also expressed the readiness "to maintain high dynamics of interaction between the foreign ministries of the two countries and close coordination of steps on the world scene" and promised "to continue to furnish fraternal support to Belgrade in upholding legitimate national interests."
On June 6-7 last year, Lavrov was scheduled to visit Belgrade. The visit had to be canceled, when Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro refused to provide an air corridor for his plane. Lavrov slammed such a decision by European states as unprecedented and inconceivable.
After the disruption of the visit to Belgrade, Lavrov invited his Serbian counterpart at that moment, Nikola Selakovic, to visit Moscow. When Serbia’s new government was formed, the post of foreign minister went to Dacic, who enjoys the reputation of a Russophile. It was pro-Russian electoral rhetoric that let the Socialist Party-led coalition take third place in the parliamentary elections in Serbia on April 3 with 11.48%.
On August 2, Lavrov repeated the invitation to Serbia’s foreign minister to visit Russia. Belgrade accepted the invitation. An instruction was given to make preparations for the visit. However, it had not materialized by the end of 2022.