The brochure can be downloaded here: Republic of Serbia - Candidate for the UNESCO Executive Board 2019-2023

The reason for my stay in Washington D.C. is the participation at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. The U.S. is organizing this Conference for the second time. Representatives from more than 100 countries took part in the event this year, with more than 20 Foreign Ministers in attendance.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at the conference.

I took the opportunity to point to the difficult position of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian believers in Kosovo and Metohija, and to all crimes committed in Kosovo and Metohija against Christian worshippers and religious sites of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

I also had talks with U.S. senior officials. I spoke with National Security Adviser John Bolton, Assistant Secretary of State Philip Reeker and Senator Ron Johnson.

The topic of all these talks was the situation in the region and the talks were extremely good. It has been reasserted that the position of Serbia concerning the dialogue with Pristina is being highly valued. It was clearly indicated who was responsible for interrupting the dialogue and what was the way forward, meaning that the tariffs must go in order for the dialog to continue. In that context, all talks were very useful and we presented our views once again, i.e. that we stand ready to continue the dialog but do not accept unilateral acts by Pristina, demonstrating that they don't want any compromise.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton underlined that finding a peaceful and lasting solution to the Kosovo issue figured high on the list of U.S. foreign policy priorities. We expect even greater engagement by the United States in the coming period in order to exert additional pressure to lift tariffs and create conditions for the continuation of the dialog", the Head of Serbian diplomacy said after the meetings in Washington D.C.

Washington, D.C, July 18th, 2019 - First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic met today in Washington D.C, on the sidelines of the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, with Mr. John Bolton, National Security Adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump.

In the talks, Minister Dacic expressed interest of the Republic of Serbia to further enhance bilateral relations with the United States and raise it to a higher level, especially bearing in mind the alliance of the two countries in both World Wars.

Concurring with the assessment made by Minister Dacic about the necessity for further improving bilateral relations at all levels, National Security Adviser John Bolton specifically emphasized the resolve of the incumbent U.S. Administration to support as early as possible continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, facilitated by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The Head of Serbian diplomacy voiced determination of the Republic of Serbia, as a guarantor of regional security and stability, to further advance security and stability in the region and conveyed readiness of Serbia for an open cooperation with the United States.

The Orfelin Circle is organizing its tenth Movie Festival titled "Best of the Orfelin Circle's 10 years of Serbian Docs & Shorts" in the Avalon Theater, Washington D.C, on June 13th and 16th, 2019. The entrance is free, and all movies are with English subtitles.

For more information, please visit: http://www.orfelin.org/10festival_e.html