The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Nikola Selaković, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe, Frederick Shava, signed an agreement on the donation of 30,000 vaccines against the corona virus today, and aid of 65 tons of food products is also arriving from Serbia to that African country.

 After the signing ceremony, Minister Selaković conveyed the greetings of President Aleksandar Vučić and the people of Serbia to the citizens of Zimbabwe and the officials of that country.

 "The sincerity and warmth of these greetings reflect our closeness and mutual understanding as representatives of freedom-loving nations", Selaković said, reminding that Serbia and Zimbabwe have had friendly relations for decades.

 "As in the key moments of the anti-colonial struggle, when Belgrade and Yugoslavia diplomatically, morally, militarily and in other ways helped the liberation movements of African peoples, in the same way, my country still helps the friendly people of Zimbabwe in these challenging and difficult times", Selaković said.

He reminded that the people of Zimbabwe also supported our country in the most difficult moments during the 1990s, when, as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, they voted against the imposition of sanctions on Belgrade, thus earning Serbia's eternal gratitude.

"The values ​​and principles on which our cooperation was based in the past, and on which the vision of our statesmen was based, are still relevant today. Peaceful resolution of disagreements, tolerance, equality, the right to sustainable development, respect for international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity are principles on which the world of the future must be based", said the head of Serbian diplomacy.

Selaković invited the representatives of Zimbabwe to participate in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade in October.

As he said, Serbia intends to continue cooperation with Zimbabwe and other African countries, following values ​​such as respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

Selaković also pointed out that Serbia, in accordance with its capabilities, will continue to help Zimbabwe and other African countries.

Minister Selaković informed the hosts about the way in which Serbia faced the corona virus epidemic, emphasizing that we built two covid hospitals in a short time and that the construction of the third is nearing completion, and that we had selfless help from Russia and China in the technology transfer for vaccine production.

He expressed confidence that in the upcoming period, the governments of Serbia and Zimbabwe will strengthen cooperation in the field of the fight against the corona virus, but also on other issues of common interest.

Minister Frederick Shava stated that it was not surprising that Serbia came to Zimbabwe's help in difficult times, reminding that Yugoslavia, whose successor Serbia is, provided great help in the process of gaining Zimbabwe's independence.

"We had great cooperation in the past, we traded, exchanged experiences, companies from Yugoslavia participated in the construction of Zimbabwe, and many companies, such as Energoprojekt, are actually Serbian companies", said Minister Shava.

He added that, during the conversation, interest was expressed in re-establishing diplomatic missions of our two countries, since at this moment, Serbia does not have an embassy in Harare, nor Zimbabwe in Belgrade.

Minister Shava said that Zimbabwe would be very pleased to participate in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade.

He pointed out that Zimbabwe highly appreciates Serbia's decision to help with the corona virus vaccines, and expressed hope that Serbia might be able to help Zimbabwe start producing vaccines on its own.

"We know that Serbia is a friend of Africa and Zimbabwe, we wish you all the best and convey to the people of Serbia that we are very grateful for the donation of vaccines and food", said Minister Shava.

Referring to the values ​​on which the friendship of our two countries is based, Minister Shava pointed out that Zimbabwe is with Serbia on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, because it supports the facts and the truth.

In the next two days, Minister Selaković will also visit Zambia, Angola and Namibia, where he will hand over vaccines against the corona virus, but also invite the officials of those countries to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, on 11 and 12 October in Belgrade.

20 August 2021