US and Serbia Agree to Strengthen Partnership

12 Oct 2010 / 06:48

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Serbian President Boris Tadic have agreed that the US and Serbia should build up a partnership on new foundations after many years of misunderstandings.

Bojana Barlovac
Speaking at a joint press conference in Belgrade on Tuesday afternoon, Clinton praised the "great progress" made in relations between Serbia and the United States, and welcomed Belgrade's efforts on its path towards EU membership.

Tadic thanked Clinton for coming to Serbia, saying that the country faces "challenges for which we need partnership and cooperation with the major world forces, which is what the U.S. certainly is".

According to Tadic, the meeting has confirmed Serbia's determination to build a strategic partnership with the United States and the country's willingness to do all it can to close a dark page of its past by arresting war crimes indicitees Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic.

Before the joint conference, Clinton and Tadic talked behind closed doors for more than an hour. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon and Serbian foreign and defence ministers Vuk Jeremic and Dragan Sutanovac joined them afterwards.
Clinton is later scheduled to meet with Jeremic and Sutanovac, as well as Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and civil society representatives.

Many streets in Belgrade were closed as Clinton's motorcade passed through the city, which is being secured with 5,000 police officers during her visit.

Clinton came to the Serbian capital from Sarajevo, where she urged Bosnians to seek out compromises and push forward with reforms.

She is leaving Belgrade tomorrow morning and heading to Pristina, the last stop on her Balkans tour.

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