Serbia

I stand before the Assembly as the representative of a free and independent country, the Republic of Serbia, which is on its European Union (EU) accession path, but which at the same time is not ready to turn its back on traditional friendships it has been building for centuries. I want to raise my voice on behalf of my country, but also on behalf of those who today. 78 years after the establishment of the United Nations, truly and equally believe that the principles of the Charter of the United Nations are the only substantial defence of world peace, the right to freedom and the independence of nations and countries; but more than that, they are a pledge of the very survival of the human civilization. The new global wave of wars and violence that are impacting the foundations of international security is a painful consequence whose cause lies in abandoning the principles envisaged in the United Nations Charter. All of us. speaking in this renowned Organization, speak about our own problems, confronting often a real and imaginary enemy, patronizing our own public, or telling fairy tales of the future with an insufficiently realistic view of the issues. What does the future of the world look like? Even though all of us listened to the words of the Secretary-General, not many actually heard and almost not a single world news outlet conveyed his words of warning. Nevertheless, in an era of social network dominance, when the only important thing is to get one more “like”; in an era when a pet gets more attention than a child, it is no wonder that we cannot recognize the dangers that are in front of us. As the President of one not-so-big country. I cannot and have no right to speak about relations between great Powers. It is neither my job. nor could I do so. but I can — and I will — speak about how inobservance of international public law can bring horrible consequences. The attempt to cut my country into pieces, which formally started in 2008 with the unilateral declaration of independence of so-called Kosovo, has not ended yet. It was precisely the violation of the United Nations Charter in the case of Serbia that was one of the visible precursors of the numerous problems we are all facing today, which go far beyond the borders of my country and the region I come from. Broadly observed, since we last met in this Hall the world is neither a better nor a safer place — quite the opposite. Global peace and stability remain under acute threat. We continue to face problems related to energy security, financial instability, and security and disruptions in the food and medication supply chains. Not only have we not found solutions to many problems, but they have become more numerous, and some have even grown more complex. I have also spoken about how nobody here listens to anyone and or strives for real agreements. In the meantime, we have started to talk even less and less. It is as if virtually all. guided solely by their own interests and entrenched in their positions, have given up on seeking compromise solutions. While for three days in a row we pledge from this place to respect of principles and rules of the United Nations Charter, their violation is rooted precisely in most of the problems in international relations, and the implementation of dual standards is an open invitation to all those who strive to achieve their interests through war and violence, by violating not only the norms of international law but also basic human morality. All the speakers so far — and. I believe, all who will speak after me — have spoken of the necessity of changes in the world, underlining their own countries as exemplars of morality and commitment to the law and world justice. Today I will not utter many superlatives about my country; about the growth of salaries and pensions or about hundreds of kilometres of constructed highways and railroads, newly built hospitals and schools, science-technology parks or the artificial intelligence institute, because it is a natural thing that I protect its interests and that I love it more than anything in the world. But I will speak about the principles that have been violated and that have brought us to the situation in which we are today. Those principles were violated not by the small States, which are often the targets of attack, but by the most powerful countries in the world, especially those that give themselves the right to lecture, each from its own angle, on politics and morals to the whole world. Here in this Hall only two days ago (see A/78/ PV.4). we heard the President of the United States speak of the most important principle in relations between countries: respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty. It was only as the third most important factor that he mentioned human rights. It seemed to me that everybody in this Hall could support that. I. as the President of Serbia, supported it with unhidden jubilance. The only problem in all that was the fact that, a few hours after his speech. I had to see on these premises the President of so-called Kosovo, who is considered by the most powerful part of the West to be the President of an independent country — originating, by the way. through its secession from the territory of the Republic of Serbia. At the same time, only a few metres away from this Hall, the German Minister said that Germany firmly observed the Charter of the United Nations and United Nations decisions and documents, and that it would never give up on that. All that would be nice if it were true. Specifically, almost all Western Powers brutally violated both the United Nations Charter and Security Council resolution 1244 (1999). which was adopted in this renowned Organization, just as they denied and violated those very principles that they are defending today. This happened, first. 24 years ago and then exactly 15 years ago. For the first time, unprecedented in world history, the most powerful 19 countries made the decision, without the involvement of the Security Council — I repeat, without any decision by the Security Council — to brutally attack and punish a sovereign country on European soil, as they said, to prevent a humanitarian disaster. They did not laugh out loud when the Russian President used the very same words to justify his attack against Ukraine. They forgot that they themselves had used the same narrative, the same words and the same explanations. I would therefore like to inform members of the Assembly that Serbia has not set foot in the territory of any other country or threatened its existence; but 24 years ago. the most powerful and the strongest 19 showed no mercy to small Serbia. Even when they had finished that job. they said that the issue of Kosovo was a democratic issue and that it would be resolved in accordance with the United Nations Charter and other documents of international law. And then, contrary to absolutely all documents of international public law. it occurred to them in 2008 to support the independence of so-called Kosovo. The illegal decision on the secession of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia was made a decade after the armed conflict in our country had ended. Without a referendum or any other democratic form of declaring their stance to the citizens of Serbia or at least to those in Kosovo and Metohija itself, that decision was made at a moment when Serbia had a Government committed to European and Euro-Atlantic integration and when it included in its composition the province of Kosovo and Metohija. Serbia was then a full-fledged Member not only of the United Nations, but also of the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and many other international organizations. Nevertheless, that did not prevent legal and political violence from being wielded by those who are today at the forefront in lecturing from this rostrum. Pointless and meaningless explanations — such as the police terror that Serbian authorities had carried out in its southern province a decade earlier, the humanitarian crisis or the expulsion of the local Albanian population — were only the drop that overspilled the glass of lies and nonsense in order to justify the violence against a sovereign country and undermine its integrity. Since the moment of victory of those 19 against small Serbia. 70 per cent of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija have left their homes, and there are now 300.000 Albanians more than there had ever been in Kosovo. Well, so much for the law; so much for justice. Nevertheless, worse than anything else is the fact that all those who committed aggression against the Republic of Serbia lecture today about the territorial integrity of Ukraine, as if we did not support the integrity of Ukraine. We do support it and we will keep supporting it. because we do not change our politics and principles, regardless of our centuries-long traditional friendship with the Russian Federation. To us. every violence is the same; every violation of the United Nations Charter is the same, regardless of the strength of the Power that exerts it or the inevitably similar excuses it makes for its illegal and immoral behaviour. But when we ask them about the territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia and about what they did to my country, the answer is the one that all of representatives of small countries in the world have heard on countless of occasions: “Do not go back to the past; look towards the future because it is the only way for your country to make progress.” When it comes to the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Serbia and any other country, all of us are entitled to speak about it from this rostrum, at least a bit more than they are. I am the President of Serbia in my second presidential term. On countless occasions I have been under various kinds of political pressure. I am a political veteran, and what I will say today is most important to me. Principles do not change from one circumstance to another. Principles do not apply only to the strong; they apply to all. If that is not the case, they are no longer principles. And that is why I believe that in the modern world there will either be principles and the same rules will apply to all. or. as the world, we will end up in the deepest divisions in our history, in the most difficult conflicts and in problems we will not manage to cope with. Another important thing is that peace has become a forbidden word because all of them have their favourites and their culprits. The only values that remain to the great Powers are precisely their principles, but false ones. As long as they are fine with them, they will call upon them. The first time — as was the case with Serbia — they disagreed with the principles, the aw and the rules, the law. justice and the principles suffered. Today in Kosovo and Metohija, a southern province of the Republic of Serbia, overt violence is taking place, directed against Serbs by the separatist authorities of Albin Kurti. Only last week, after who knows which failed round of dialogue in Brussels, the Prime Minister in Pristina. Mr. Albin Kurti. after rejecting the European proposal for de-escalation, addressed the public in front of one of the main buildings of the European Union and. before millions of viewers of the media that were present, conveyed to the not so many remaining Serbs in Kosovo that the Serbs will “suffer and pay for the mistake they made”. Is there anything worse than mocking humanity, the international rules- based order and the international community than these words? Unfortunately, that is possible.  Only one day later, as we sit in this Hall, a new contingency of Serbs is being taken to Kurti’s prisons, apprehended pursuant to fabricated accusations, as a part of his terror campaign. Even worse are the actions continuously undertaken by Kurti’s extremist regime in the past 20 months and which, in practice, together with the repeated, accelerated displacement of the remaining Serbs, are turning into a crawling ethnic cleansing in the heart of Europe. Members can conclude for themselves just how deep the Kurti’s regime’s cynicism goes from the following. Since the European Union and United States State Secretary Antony Blinken issued a statement in early June, condemning the unilateral action of the so-called Government of Kosovo, ethnically motivated attacks against Serbs in our southern province have risen by 50 per cent, while during the same period the Pristina authorities have made 22 new escalatory moves. The Serbian boys Stefan Stojanovic and Milos Stojanovic. who are 11 and 21-years-old. respectively, were wounded on Christmas Eve by members of the so-called Kosovo security forces (KSF). in whose equipping some of the attendees in this Hall take part, knowing quite well that it is deeply illegal and that the mere existence of the KSF is contrary to Security Council resolution 1244 (1999). Seven innocent civilians have been shot by the representatives of the so-called Kosovo institutions. The disruption of the delivery of supplies to hospitals, election voting bans for Serbs alone, a comprehensive economic blockade of Serbian goods, and attacks against churches, graveyards and schools are a part of the sad daily life of my people in that part of our territory, parted by the violent secession contrary to the United Nations Charter. And hard as it is to believe, even though there has not been a single Albanian wounded, not a single suspect apprehended or a single injured Albanian, it is always somehow the fault of both sides. Unlike in 1999. when Belgrade and other cities in my country were bombed, leaving a bloody trail from several thousand dead civilians and soldiers in scenes that pretty much resemble those that we. unfortunately, are seeing today in different parts of the world when an obvious act of terror — which they themselves say recalls what happened to Albanians — happens against Serbs, there is no humanitarian disaster; there is no call for action. There is nothing. They are only worried now and shrug their shoulders, but if they have to make any decisions, it will always be. as they put it. the fault of both sides. In such a world. I believe that one small Serbia, by raising its voice and fighting for universal values and the principles of the inviolability of internationally recognized borders, territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence, sets an example of a fight for the right that was abolished here in this building, and protects the principles the world should be made of. with its not very great strength but with its paramount decisiveness and courage. We did not change those principles for the purpose of daily politics and our own needs. And just as we preserve the integrity of Serbia, we defend the integrity of each United Nations Member State. It is only a bit sad that all the big ones, which are not interested in the law and justice, call in different circumstances upon whatever principles they find the most suitable at that particular moment. When one follows such politics, when there is no morality in world politics, then it is clear that we are about to enter an era of big divisions and big conflicts — not only political and economic, but military ones as well. And in this very difficult situation, the United Nations is the last substantial platform that brings us all together, regardless of all our differences and divisions. I believe that the commitment to peace and development and the desire to resolve disputes through dialogue, to find common ways to end human suffering and to ensure a more prosperous and stable future are precisely what unites us. That is why we extend our full support to all important reform processes of the United Nations itself, including the initiatives of the Secretary-General. For the preservation of global peace and so that we all do not disappear in a Darwinist conflict led by great Powers, it is necessary to join forces, just like we did 78 years ago. in a common fight for an international order based on the United Nations Charter. Respecting the United Nations Charter is not a choice; it is an obligation. After all. as I have already said while mentioning some names, this is what we had the opportunity to hear during statements made by most colleagues while talking, among other issues, about the topic that is still dominant in all forums — the conflict in Ukraine. I agree with them when it comes to the necessity of respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, which the Republic of Serbia has consistently done from the beginning. We have been making such appeals continuously for decades, but with a significant difference. Serbia supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all United Nations Member States — I repeat, all Member States. Therefore, it is hard for me to understand how some are still not acting in a consistent manner when it comes to the need to respect the territorial integrity of Serbia and how they fail to understand that the selective application of principles leads to pronounced divisions, a lack of solidarity and mutual understanding. However. I want to wholeheartedly thank the global majority. Significantly more than one half of United Nations Member States support the United Nations Charter in our case, and they do not support the violent partition of my country. I am glad that, for the majority of United Nations Member States, double standards are out of the question. We are deeply grateful to all who selflessly support our efforts to preserve our territorial integrity, thereby demonstrating their commitment to the United Nations Charter. By safekeeping their borders today, they safe-keep their borders and they preserve peace. On their behalf, as well as on our behalf, we will continue, year after year, to underline that defending principles is the same as defending freedom, independence and peace. It often seems to us that the discussion with Pristina’s Government is more like a monologue than a dialogue because it is hard to explain why. more than 10 years after the signing of the Brussels Agreement and the ensuing obligations, the community of Serb majority municipalities has not been formed. The Republic of Serbia, its Government and all its institutions are working in their full capacity on the preservation of dialogue with the Pristina, under EU auspices. It is our task. Dialogue is possible only when all of us. including the European facilitators, adhere firmly to what has been agreed. The imbalance by which Serbia has to make concessions all the time is not leading towards a solution — quite the contrary. As I said at the beginning of my speech. Serbia is on its European path, ready to change, to reform itself and to make progress. Today Serbia has very good cooperation with the United States of America in almost all areas, and we believe that our relations will only be better in the future. At the same time. Serbia will cherish its big and traditional friendships on all continents, while being proud of its good relations with all the nations and countries of Africa. Asia and Latin America. We do not divide people by the colour of their skin or their religious affiliation; that is why our relations with the People’s Republic of China, many Arab and other Muslim countries are at the highest historical level. Nor have we cut our important and historical ties with the Russian Federation. Believing that dialogue is the only way to find a compromise solution. Serbia remains committed to that process in the aim of ensuring peaceful coexistence for Serbs and Albanians. The peace and stability of the region have no alternative. It is in that belief that we approach all discussions facilitated by the EU. As many here may know, different interpretations of history are the cause of many disagreements and open issues, and not only in our region. I believe in the future, and I believe that, by making joint efforts, we still have the capacity and ability to try to overcome our differences and focus on what connects us — our care for the well-being of our nations. We want to build bridges, not walls. We need to look towards the future. We need to move forward and to use every chance for economic growth, connectivity and the exchange of ideas. Today we have common toll collection from Belgrade almost to the Adriatic Sea. and soon we will have it to the Aegean Sea. We have opened the borders in the Balkans; we have opened the labour market and enabled the free flow of people, goods and capital. That was the very guiding star and initiator of the Open Balkan initiative, which has yielded concrete results so far and strengthened regional ownership of the processes of the economic connectivity of the region. The Open Balkan initiative has also improved the political atmosphere. We take such an approach to all our neighbours and our key interest is to preserve stability in the region and turn towards as intensive cooperation as possible in all areas. Those processes are certainly an inseparable part of our strivings to become a full-fledged member of the European Union, which is at the same time one of the key priorities of our foreign policy. This priority certainly does not exclude our commitment to cooperation development and the deepening of relations with our traditional friends in all parts of the world, and in particular in our region, where we remain a reliable and responsible partner. We will strive to strengthen existing and build new friendships, both bilaterally and through participation in the initiatives and forums of different regions all over the world. The latest confirmation that geographic distance should not be a barrier to cooperation is the recent accession of the Republic of Serbia to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Additionally, we are proud of having been given a unique opportunity to make the spirit of friendship I speak of felt in Belgrade, which will host the specialized exhibition Expo 2027. We are grateful to all those who have supported us and had faith in us. After lengthy negotiations with a great deal of optimism, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity, was adopted in this Hall in resolution 70/1. by which we pledged that no one would be left behind. Halfway to the deadline for meeting the goals of the Agenda, there is still a glimmer of hope that we will be able to fulfil the promise we gave, although there are many reasons for concern. Despite the progress that has been made in certain areas, unfortunately we are still facing basic existential problems such as poverty, hunger and inequality. Serbia puts maximum effort into securing a stable and safe future, at the same time initiating policies based on the Sustainable Development Goals. Among some of the results so far are the following: the development of instruments for integrating the principle of leaving no one behind into our legislative and strategic documents, as well as our participation in global initiatives and their implementation at the national level in the areas of sustainable food systems, the transformation of education systems and urban development. We have lived to see the fourth industrial revolution and new technologies as a development opportunity that we must not squander. That is why we continue investing in infrastructure, economic reforms and the creation of better business environment. Digitization and education are among our key priorities. The need to find new sources of growth has also been recognized. That is why our future activities will be focused on innovation, research and development and creative industries. Serbia is the first country in the South-East Europe region that joined the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence and adopted a development strategy in that area back in 2019. The BIO4 campus is being built; it is a unique, multidisciplinary complex for research and development in the natural sciences, which should become one of the key bioeconomic hubs in Europe. We firmly believe that knowledge and science play one of the key roles in accelerating activities towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Therefore. I am proud that, at the proposal of the Republic of Serbia and like-minded countries, the General Assembly adopted resolution 77/326. declaring the period from 2024 to 2033 the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development. We do all this for future generations. I believe that the involvement of young people in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is an important prerequisite for its success because, beyond any doubt, the young are the most important development engine of every society. I believe that we are all aware that there is no development without peace. As Nelson Mandela said. “Peace is the greatest weapon for development that any person can have”. We must believe in that and work together on it. The conditio sine qua non is. first and foremost, conversation — to listen and to try to hear and understand each other. There is no alternative to peace. Finally. I want to take this opportunity to invite the representatives of all United Nations Member States to take part in the world exhibition Expo 2027. Belgrade. Serbia’s capital, a cosmopolitan metropolis with 2 million inhabitants, is home, and we extend a welcoming hand for participation in the freest and most diverse international exhibition so far. We invite everyone to Belgrade to celebrate humanity together. I know that I have spoken much longer than I was asked to do. but I have to say that I have given myself the same right to do so as the big Powers have given themselves.