Vucic's inauguration: From CSTO to NATO, Rogozin to Yee

Vucic's inauguration: From CSTO to NATO, Rogozin to Yee

Thus both the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and NATO will be represented - by Secretary General Yuri Khatchaturov and Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, respectively.

Russia will send Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin - who is otherwise a frequent guest of Serbia - while the US will send State Department Official Hoyt Brian Yee, who was also recently in Belgrade.

Among the invitees who have confirmed their attendance are a number of special guests, including former top European officials Alfred Gusenbauer and Franco Frattini, who were Vucic's advisors while he served as prime minister, as well as close associates of President Vladimir Putin - high ranking official of the One Russia party Sergei Zheleznyak and Balkan Center for International Cooperation Director Viktor Kolbanovski.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder - who recently spoke during a campaign rally in Belgrade organized by Vucic's ruling SNS party - will also be here on Friday, this time as Germany's special envoy.

All three members of Bosnia-Herzegovina's presidency - Mladen Ivanic, Dragan Covic, and Bakir Izetbegovic - as well as presidents of Croatia, Montenegro, and Slovenia - Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Filip Vujanovic, and Borut Pahor - have confirmed their arrival.

UAE's Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, Austrian Chancellor Chirstian Kern, and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban are also expected to attend.

Armenia, Georgia, Macedonia, Norway, Greece, Italy, Belarus, and Congo will all send cabinet ministers, while Azerbaijan, Slovakia, Turkey, China, Morroco, and the Czech Republic will be represented by parliament speakers or other high ranking parliament officials.

The EU will be represented by Commissioner Johannes Hahn, while one of the guests will be European External Action Service's Director for Western Balkans and Turkey Angelina Eichhorst.

International organizations, such as the EBRD, the OSCE, the EIB, the UN, the IMF, the WHO, the CoE, and others, will mostly be represented by envoys who head their offices in Belgrade.

About 40 ambassadors and consuls have also confirmed their presence.

More than 300 reporters will cover the event. According to announcements, the Palace of Serbia will have six salons designed to showcase the history of the Serbian state, and dedicated to various parts of the country - Vojvodina, central, eastern, and southern Serbia, Kosovo and Metohija.

Journalists have been told that the menu will include specialty dishes from all parts of Serbia, and wines from 57 domestic wineries. This will be financed from "donation contracts."