Ambassador Dr Dejan Popović

SPEECH AT THE FAREWELL RECEPTION AT THE EMBASSY OF SERBIA (18 JULY 2013)

Your Royal Highness, my lords, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,
In diplomacy everything is about coming and departing. It was almost five years ago when Zorica and I arrived in London and today we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for attending this farewell reception and for the friendship and support you were giving us during my tour of duty that lasted eight months longer than our standard four year mandate.
Since Serbia re-emerged as an independent nation after the dissolution of the State Union with Montenegro in 2006 I was privileged to be the first Serbia’s ambassador to the UK after 90 years. Namely, in December 1918 Jovan Jovanović – le Pigeon, the last Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Serbia, left London to be replaced soon by the successor who represented the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (subsequently renamed Yugoslavia) into which Serbia had been merged at the end of the Great War. When I came to London I set myself a task that somehow marked my entire stay in the UK: encouraged by my government, I have been trying to convey a message to my UK interlocutors, colleagues from the diplomatic corps, media and British citizens in general, including the members of our diaspora, that there is a new, smiling face of Serbia, an old European country and young democracy, committed to the same values and goals as other European states. Having said that, I by no means underestimate the relevance of our regular diplomatic duties. I just wanted to point out how much I appreciate your support and understanding because the message has not been sent in vain. The bottom line is that these are the deeds rather than the words that matter thus protecting our diplomatic profession from Sir Henry Wotton’s curse that “an ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country”.  
In the hindsight I cannot resist the temptation to quote former British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury: „There is nothing dramatic in the success of a diplomatist. His victories are made up of a series of microscopic advantages“. Namely, during my tour of duty Serbia’s first benchmark was visa liberalisation. It was realised by the end of 2009 with respect to the Schengen states and I hope that my successor would finally yield the results of a visa reviewing initiated by the British government in 2010 and have visa liberalisation extended to these Isles. Then came the ratification of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and in 2012 the status of an EU candidate country. Finally, on 28 June 2013 the European Council decided to open the accession negotiations with Serbia. Small steps but a large distance covered.
Preparing to end my tour of duty I am grateful for the diplomatic support Her Majesty’s Government is giving Serbia in her efforts to achieve the strategic goal of becoming the full member of the EU. There is definitively no enlargement fatigue in FCO. I highly appreciate daily friendly contacts with British citizens – businessmen, academics, artists. I cannot help mentioning fire-fighters from South Wales who on several occasions drove their fire engines all the way from Caerphilly to Serbia to present them as a gift to their Serbian colleagues. I must thank Phil Shorthouse from Rochester who regularly drove truck with the humanitarian aid to Kraljevo, hit by an earthquake in 2010. I do appreciate academic and journalistic endeavours of those men and women who wrote and teach on Serbia as it is, with pluses and minuses as each other country. I hail the twinning programmes between Norwich and Novi Sad and between Coventry and Belgrade. I am grateful to all those who attended the fundraising dinner organised by Novak Djoković Foundation and collected several million pounds for the children in need in Serbia. When I mentioned Novak, I must admit that he plays the role of an outstanding ambassador of his country – humble in winning and gracious in defeat. His tennis rivalry with Andy Murray, based on mutual respect and friendship, is the best example of the old British notion of “fair play”. Let us recall together their most notable matches in the finals of Wimbledon 2013 and US Open 2012 won by Murray and in the finals of Australian Open 2013 and 2011 won by Djoković. No one should miss watching US Open final in September.
A major contribution to the excellent relations between the UK and Serbia is made by the members of Serbian diaspora, whose number is estimated at around 50,000. Fully integrated into the British society due to their diligence and commitment to hard work, they retain their ties with the parent country thus creating a very solid bridge which connects two friendly nations from different parts of Europe.
Zorica and I will return to our academic work in Belgrade and I am thrilled to re-establish contacts with my students. As Serbia commences its accession negotiations, my professional expertise in the tax law, one of the elements of acquis communautaire,  may create opportunities for our paths to cross again in the future in Brussels, London or elsewhere. My friends from the diplomatic corps, FCO, academia or diaspora know that the doors of our home in Belgrade and in Tivat, on the coast of Montenegro, are always open for them. We will miss our conversations, dinners and joint participation in various social events. We will miss this great city fully aware what a privilege was to serve in London. Finally, we will even miss English weather, no matter how incredibly it may sound.