The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland has visited Belgrade on Monday and met with officials and civil society representatives.
The US understands that Serbia has traditionally strong ties with Russia and it sees no contradiction with Belgrade having good relations with both Russia and the United States, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said in Belgrade Monday.
The US is proud to have Serbia as a partner, she said after a meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.
We understand that Serbia has long ties with Russia. We dont see any contradiction with Serbia having a good relationship with Russia and a good relationship with the US we would never ask friends or allies to choose, Nuland said.
The US will always support Serbia on its European route, she said.
Nuland also highlighted the role Serbia has in the region, in regional cooperation and reconciliation.
The US also sees as very important the continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, she said.
The US is enormously proud to be Serbias partner as Serbia continues on its democratic transition, strengthening rule of law, strengthening media freedoms, strengthening the environment for investments, and we are particularly proud to support Serbias European choice, she said.
Earlier in the day, Nuland also had separate meetings with Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, a parliamentary delegation and a group of civil society representatives, including Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic and Rodoljub Sabic, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection.
Meanwhile
Two inmates from the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay were transferred to Serbia on Monday as the Obama administration pressed ahead with its long-held goal of shutting the widely condemned facility at the US naval base in Cuba.
The transfer of Yemeni national Mansur Ahmad Saad al-Dayfi and Tajik national Muhammadi Davlatov to Serbia reduced the number of detainees at Guantánamo to 76, with 27 of those approved for transfer once an appropriate country can be found, US officials said.
The United States appreciates the generous assistance of Serbia as the United States continues its efforts to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement, calling it a significant humanitarian gesture.
It was the first time the United States has transferred Guantánamo Bay prisoners to Serbia, a Pentagon spokesman said.
After meeting Serbias Prime Minister-designate Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Victoria Nuland, the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said the Obama administration was grateful to Serbia for taking the two inmates.
Vucic said Serbia acted in line with good cooperation it has with the United States.
Other countries took over (inmates), Germany took them, it was natural (for us) to do that ... I think this speaks well about our country and that this is a good signal for the future, Vucic said.
