Tadić, Šutanovac travel to Tripoli

Serbia is honored to have been invited to attend the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Libyan revolution, says President Boris Tadic. Tadic said that he would be meeting with Libyan President Moammar Gadaffi during his stay in Tripoli, as well as with other heads of state and government attending the celebrations in the Libyan capital. Tadic, Sutanovac travel to Tripoli “It will be an opportunity for many informal conversations ahead of the General Assembly, and these kinds of meetings are often a lot more productive than formal talks,“ said the president. Members of the Serbian Army will also take part in the military parade to mark the 40th anniversary of the revolution. Former Serbian ambassador to Tunisia Miodrag Jovanovic told B92 that the president’s visit to Tripoli was part of a policy of restoring and bolstering ties with the Non-Aligned world. Jovanovic believes that the gathering in Tripoli is an excellent opportunity to meet with a large number of statesmen, particularly from Africa. “Our president’s trip to Tripoli is part of the policy that has begun in the last couple of years, which is restoring and bolstering ties with what has been something of a lost world for us over a long period. That’s the Non-Aligned world that we founded and later left, and now that world is that big dam for our biggest goal, which is preserving our territorial integrity,” said the former ambassador. He noted also a very small number of UN member states had recognized Kosovo’s unilateral independence, and that the majority of those were indeed from that part of the world. “As we know, in the UN, of 192 states, only 60 or so have recognized Kosovo. Therefore, a huge number, 90 percent are precisely those countries. That’s why the gathering in Tripoli is an excellent opportunity and should be used for talks. There’s the UN General Assembly coming up too, and that, of course, is always a forum where there are a large number of meetings. But these kinds of celebrations are maybe even a better opportunity as there’s no agenda, no pre-arranged meetings, so you can speak to a lot of statesmen,” said Jovanovic. Defense Minister Sutanovac will discuss military cooperation during the visit, particularly military economic cooperation. Military analyst Zoran Dragisic recalled that that cooperation already existed, and that a large number of Libyan officers had been trained in Serbia. “Besides exporting arms to Libya, as last year there was an arrangement worth some USD 50-60mn that never materialized, we can offer the Libyans training, we can offer them treatment in our military hospitals, we can offer them training for their military doctors, officers etc,” he said. Libya was one of the former Yugoslavia’s leading trading partners until 1990 and hosted a large number of Yugoslav investments. Before sanctions were imposed, export to Libya reached USD 200mn. The leading export products included textiles, furniture and metal constructions. In terms of imports, Libya provided oil and oil derivates, making it the top importer to Yugoslavia of all the African countries. Boris Tadic (FoNet, archive)

Tadić, Šutanovac travel to Tripoli

“It will be an opportunity for many informal conversations ahead of the General Assembly, and these kinds of meetings are often a lot more productive than formal talks,“ said the president.

Members of the Serbian Army will also take part in the military parade to mark the 40th anniversary of the revolution.

Former Serbian ambassador to Tunisia Miodrag Jovanović told B92 that the president’s visit to Tripoli was part of a policy of restoring and bolstering ties with the Non-Aligned world.

Jovanović believes that the gathering in Tripoli is an excellent opportunity to meet with a large number of statesmen, particularly from Africa.

“Our president’s trip to Tripoli is part of the policy that has begun in the last couple of years, which is restoring and bolstering ties with what has been something of a lost world for us over a long period. That’s the Non-Aligned world that we founded and later left, and now that world is that big dam for our biggest goal, which is preserving our territorial integrity,” said the former ambassador.

He noted also a very small number of UN member states had recognized Kosovo’s unilateral independence, and that the majority of those were indeed from that part of the world.

“As we know, in the UN, of 192 states, only 60 or so have recognized Kosovo. Therefore, a huge number, 90 percent are precisely those countries. That’s why the gathering in Tripoli is an excellent opportunity and should be used for talks. There’s the UN General Assembly coming up too, and that, of course, is always a forum where there are a large number of meetings. But these kinds of celebrations are maybe even a better opportunity as there’s no agenda, no pre-arranged meetings, so you can speak to a lot of statesmen,” said Jovanović.

Defense Minister Šutanovac will discuss military cooperation during the visit, particularly military economic cooperation.

Military analyst Zoran Dragišić recalled that that cooperation already existed, and that a large number of Libyan officers had been trained in Serbia.

“Besides exporting arms to Libya, as last year there was an arrangement worth some USD 50-60mn that never materialized, we can offer the Libyans training, we can offer them treatment in our military hospitals, we can offer them training for their military doctors, officers etc,” he said.

Libya was one of the former Yugoslavia’s leading trading partners until 1990 and hosted a large number of Yugoslav investments. Before sanctions were imposed, export to Libya reached USD 200mn. The leading export products included textiles, furniture and metal constructions. In terms of imports, Libya provided oil and oil derivates, making it the top importer to Yugoslavia of all the African countries.