25 October 2021

The President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, met today with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom, Sian MacLeod, with whom he discussed further strengthening of bilateral and economic relations between the two countries, as well as the participation of the President of Serbia in the forthcoming United Nations Summit dedicated to climate change, COP26, which will be held in Glasgow in 7 days, and which will cover topics that concern, as the ambassador said, the biggest global challenge we are facing. The meeting was also attended by Giles Portman, Director for Europe at the UK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Development and Commonwealth Affairs.

President Vučić pointed out that in times when the whole world is fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic, as one of the biggest global plagues, the issue of climate change and energy crisis must not be pushed into the background, since the consequences of ignoring such comprehensive problems would be catastrophic for humanity.

The President thanked for the financing of the Moravian Corridor project, in which the United Kingdom participates together with the United States. The topic of conversation was also concrete economic cooperation on projects of national importance for Serbia.

Speaking about climate change, President Vučić reminded that Serbia is firmly determined to provide its contribution in this sense in the form of concrete plans, activities and laws that would best regulate environmental issues, especially in the light of climate change. In that sense, the President especially emphasized the importance of joint actions, exchange of experiences, opinions and proposals, which would be uncompromisingly implemented and applied in practice, so that the results would be visible as soon as possible.

Ambassador MacLeod emphasized that the United Kingdom attaches great importance to the issue of climate change, environmental protection and a sustainable solution to the energy crisis, and expressed confidence that Serbia will participate even more ambitiously in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, in order to build a "green economy" and achieve other goals of that kind.

"We are pleased that the topic of climate change has become important in Serbia as well and that the Serbian government's efforts to raise awareness of the importance of this issue are visible", said Ambassador MacLeod, adding that Serbia's participation in the COP26 Summit on climate change is extremely significant. The British ambassador also pointed out the numerous opportunities that the fight against climate change opens up, not only in terms of environmental protection, but also technological and economic development.

Speaking about bilateral and economic cooperation, President Vučić reiterated Serbia's commitment to strengthening political dialogue at the highest level between Serbia and Great Britain, which would contribute to strengthening cooperation between the two countries in various areas of common interest, including economy and defense. He also expressed the need to strengthen cooperation within international organizations, given that both Serbia and the United Kingdom are sincerely committed to the principles of multilateralism.

Source/Photo: www.predsednik.rs