Djuric: The Philippines reaffirmed support for Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty

Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said from Manila that this was the first bilateral visit by a Serbian foreign minister to the Philippines in 16 years, while also highlighting the importance of Serbia's participation in a major conference held alongside the ASEAN meeting.

"We had excellent talks with Philippine Foreign Minister Theresa Lazaro, and the good news for Serbia and our citizens is that this large and important Southeast Asian country has reaffirmed its support for Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. Our mutual support for respecting the principles of the UN Charter, particularly regarding the key national issue of Kosovo and Metohija for us, has once again been confirmed," Djuric emphasized.

He particularly stressed the importance of opening a dialogue with the Philippines, a country on track to become one of the world's 20 largest economies, on ways to enhance economic cooperation.

"Yesterday I mentioned that our trade with this part of the world already exceeds approximately 1.4 billion euros annually. Although we are geographically distant, I am convinced that there is additional potential. We would very much like to see, and we have received indications from our Philippine colleagues, that final decisions regarding participation in Expo 2027, which we hope will be positive, will be made in the coming weeks," Djuric pointed out.

Serbia's top diplomat said he congratulated his Philippine counterpart, Theresa Lazaro, on successfully bringing together the leaders of the world's most influential countries in Manila, including the foreign ministers of the United States, China, Russia, India and Japan, as well as the new British foreign secretary.

"For the past few days, Manila has become the capital of world diplomacy, but also a place where discussions are being held on how to overcome a series of global crises through dialogue. It is good that Serbia is at that table as a country whose interests are based on the UN Charter, which strongly advocates international cooperation founded on peaceful coexistence, and among the countries that are also members of ASEAN, whose charter we are celebrating these days," Djuric said.

He expressed hope that, in the coming period, Serbia's National Assembly would also be admitted as an observer to the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

"We will continue working to strengthen relations with the countries of this part of the world. What I can say is that I hope we will receive more good news during the day regarding the recent visit to Washington," Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said.