UAE and Serbia re-engage after strained relations

Serbia pulled out of a diplomatic agreement with the UAE when the Emirates recognised Kosovo as an independent state in 2008.

ABU DHABI // After four years of strained diplomatic relations, the UAE and Serbia have re-engaged.

Last week, a Serbian delegation headed by Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s first deputy prime minister and minister of defence, visited the UAE to discuss agreements on diplomatic and economic relations, as well as defence cooperation.

The UAE and Serbia agreed to establish full diplomatic relations in 2007, but the deal was never signed. The Serbs pulled out when the UAE recognised Kosovo as an independent state in 2008.

Since then, only air and trade-route agreements have been signed between the two governments, despite approximately 15,000 Serbians living in the UAE.

Earlier this year, Serbian residents started an online petition calling on their government to set up an embassy in the UAE. Consular services can only be accessed at the Serbian embassy in Cairo.

According to state news agency Wam, Mr Vucic expressed his interest in strengthening Serbia’s relations and cooperation with the UAE.

The Serbian minister of finance and economy, Mladan Dinkic, added that an arrangement on cooperation in the military industry has been signed.

"Possibilities for the sale of Serbian weapons and ammunition to the UAE and joint projects for the development and production of rocket systems and supersonic trainer aircraft have been discussed," Mr Dinkic said.

Mr Dinkic said Serbia provided a good environment for investments from the UAE.

A proposal was also presented by the Serbian government to create a new national airline and purchase a new fleet of aircraft in cooperation with the UAE carrier Etihad.

"We have plans to lease 12 new aircraft from Airbus and the new company would receive US$140 million [Dh514m] worth of guarantees for that purpose," Mr Dinkic said.

"This is still an idea, but creating the new JAT and a fleet renewal is a definite government decision," he said, referring to the airline of the former Yugoslavia.