Foreign Minister Retno: Serbia Ready To Recognize Indonesia's Vaccine Certificate And Form An Extradition Treaty

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. (Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement High Level Meeting and a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić which took place in Belgrade, Serbia on October 11-12.

Foreign Minister Retno said that apart from focusing on increasing economic cooperation between the two countries, Foreign Minister Retno also discussed a number of things, from vaccine certificates to extradition agreements.

He explained that the first thing discussed with Foreign Minister Nikola was related to Serbia's support for Indonesia's proposal, related to Indonesia's formal proposal to nominate the archives of the 1st Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Belgrade as UNESCO Memory of the World.

"This nomination will strengthen the central role of NAM in the world today. I propose that Indonesia and Serbia work together to gain support from other countries," said Foreign Minister Retno in a statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, October 12, with Foreign Minister Nikola directly delivering a letter of support, a letter support for Indonesian initiatives.

Furthermore, Foreign Minister Retno said that Indonesia and Serbia had agreed to start the negotiation process for the establishment of the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (MLA) Agreement and the Extradition Agreement.

Foreign Minister Nikola, who previously also served as Serbian Minister of Law and Justice, agreed with this and would encourage negotiations and accelerate the settlement, said Foreign Minister Retno.

"Third, cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines. I propose that Indonesia and Serbia recognize the certificates of the COVID-19 vaccine from the two countries as a first step to carefully and safely open the borders and mobility of the people of the two countries," he said.

"The day after the meeting, we have delivered an official letter regarding Serbia's readiness to enter into an agreement on mutual recognition of vaccine certificates between the two countries," continued Foreign Minister Retno.

As for economic cooperation, besides focusing on completing the MoU in the agricultural sector as the leading sector of cooperation between the two countries. Also encouraging increased investment in both countries in both directions.

"Indonesian companies based in Serbia, namely Indo Adriatic Industry (instant noodle production) and PT Delta Danube (mushroom cultivation) have received great attention from the Serbian government and people, even the President of Serbia himself," said Foreign Minister Retno.

"The Serbian President and Foreign Minister have personally visited mushroom plantations owned by Indonesian investors. On that occasion, Foreign Minister Nikola and I signed an MoU on diplomatic education cooperation between the two countries. We both witnessed the signing of the MoU on Business and Innovation Incubation between Belgrade University and Padjadjaran University, " he concluded.