REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY INTO THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

To prevent import of infectious disease onto the territory of the Republic of Serbia, as of 20 December 2020, individuals coming to the Republic of Serbia, shall be allowed to enter the Republic of Serbia solely provided they have a negative RT-PCR test to the virus SARS-CoV-2, not older than 48 hours, issued by a referential laboratory of the country they are coming from, that is the country they are entering the Republic of Serbia. Individuals coming from the USA instead of a negative RT-PCR test are recognized, under the same conditions, a negative Antigen FIA Rapid test. Should there be a delay when entering the Republic of Serbia that cannot be attributed to the passenger but to an existence of an extraordinary occurrence that could not have been foreseen, avoided or discarded (delay/postponement of flight, bus or train departure, or similar event), then the test cannot be older than 72 hours when entering the Republic of Serbia.

Nationals of the Republic of Serbia and foreign nationals having either a temporary or permanent permit in the Republic of Serbia, and also members of diplomatic/consular staff and members of their families, when entering the Republic of Serbia, and who do not have a negative RT-PCR test to the virus SARS-CoV-2, issued by a referential laboratory of the country they are coming from, that is the country they are entering the Republic of Serbia, not older than 48 hours from the date the result has been issued, shall be ordered a measure of quarantine at home in a duration of 10 days. This measure shall cease to be valid provided the person to whom it was ordered obtains during the duration of the measure a negative RT-PCR test to the virus SARS-CoV-2 issued by a referential laboratory in the Republic of Serbia. The aforementioned individuals shall be served when entering the Republic of Serbia, at a passport check-point a written information – medical advice on how to abide by the measures of a quarantine at home in a 10-day period from the moment they passed the state border and to mandatory call on the relevant COVID health-care centre or a relevant public health institute in particular territory within 24 hours from crossing the state border by having them registered at the following address: www.e-zdravlje.gov.rs

For more information please visit the Portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY INTO THE US

To reduce introduction and spread of new variants of SARS-CoV-2, CDC issued an Order effective January 26, 2021. It requires all air passengers arriving to the US from a foreign country to get tested for COVID-19 infection no more than 3 days before their flight departs and to provide proof of the negative result or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 to the airline before boarding the flight. For more information please visit CDC web page.

The Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church elected His Eminence Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb-Ljubljana, PhD, as the new Serbian Patriarch, in its convocation in Memorial Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade on 18 February 2021.

The U.S. Embassy in Serbia made an unusual mistake today by placing a sign of equality between the congratulatory messages sent to Serbia by Presidents Donald Trump and Joseph Biden on the occasion of Statehood Day.

The normalization of relations between Belgrade and Priština, as President Donald Trump saw it in his congratulatory message last year, and the issue of the so-called mutual recognition mentioned by President Biden neither formally and legally nor materially mean the same, or even approximately the same.

I will remind you that during the signing of the Washington Agreement, President Donald Trump was very ready to listen to and respect Serbia's views, and to, without going into the issue of the so-called mutual recognition, praise our country as a factor of stability and engine of democratic and economic development of the entire region.

Not only did President Trump not insist on the so-called mutual recognition between Belgrade and Pristina, but he was inclined to embark with us on the search for innovative solutions that would truly stabilize the region.

Such inclination is not recognized in the congratulatory message we received from President Biden, which does not mean that the new U.S. President, as a man who knows the situation in the Western Balkans extremely well, will not be in favor of a compromise between Belgrade and Priština and that he will pursue a policy of imposing solutions which quite obviously cannot stabilize the region in a lasting way.

Belgrade, 9 February 2021

President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Army Aleksandar Vucic attended a demonstration of capabilities of one part of Serbian Army units in the "Rastko Nemanjić" barracks in Pancevo. On this occasion, President Vucic stated that Serbia was ready to continue the EU-facilitated dialogue with Pristina at any point, while respecting also the position of the United States as well as the positions of Russia and China.

The President said that he would rather put his "head on the chopping block" than sign any document with a recognition and reminded that he had already once refused to do so in Washington, where there were two versions of the agreement.

He stated that he immediately had his delegation leave the meeting, that he told the U.S. delegation that Serbia would not sign such an agreement, while conveying that Serbia would always endeavour to hold peaceful talks in order to preserve peace, but that it would not take any humiliation.

The Serbian President thanked the U.S. President Joe Biden for the letter of congratulations on the occasion of the upcoming Statehood Day, in which, in addition to the usual emphasis on commitment to promoting economic cooperation, regional stability and democratic values, he unequivocally called for mutual recognition of Serbia and "Kosovo" as a result.

Mutual recognition between Serbia and "Kosovo" is not part of any act of any world organization, the President pointed out and reiterated that Serbia was ready to continue the EU-facilitated dialogue with Pristina at any point, while respecting also the position of the United States as well as the positions of Russia and China.

According to the president, the situation is difficult and will only be increasingly difficult.

"As I told you three days ago, I can see it and I expect it, I can see the situation slowly tightening, because the conflicts between them at the global level have been increasing and intensifying, and then we have to pay the price", the President said.

President Vucic said that said that it was up to our state to continue strengthening the country in the economic sense.

The President added that the role of the army was very important in the highly complex security and political conditions of the modern world, and that was why Serbia needed to do everything it could to deter any potential aggressor and attacks on citizens and the country.

"The policy of strengthening the armed forces will continue at a faster pace", the President emphasized, adding that the goal was for the Serbian Army to play a stabilizing role with regard to the political developments in the region.

According to him, it should be clear to everyone that Serbia was not a punching bag and that not everyone could attack and threaten it like it was the case in the past.

Vucic said that he was pleased with what he saw and that a lot had been done in the previous period, pointing out that the salaries of military personnel would be significantly increased as of April.

President Vucic also stated that investments in the Serbian Army would continue, whom he told that he expected the Army to continue to be the guardian of our country, its integrity and freedom.

"We expect you to be the guardians of our country, its integrity and freedom, the defenders of our people, the guardians of the homeland, the protectors of the interests of the state of Serbia and to be a deterrent factor for every aggressor and anyone who might consider attacking Serbia", Vucic said.

The military exercise called "Spearhead" demostrated the capabilities of the 72nd Special Operations Brigade, and the event, which the President of Serbia and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Army assessed as very good, was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojsa Stefanovic and Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Mojsilovic.

Belgrade, 7 February 2021