At the invitation of H.E. Mr Aleksandar VUČIĆ, President of the Republic of Serbia, H.S.H. Prince Albert II paid an official visit to Belgrade, the capital of the country, on 7 and 8 October 2020.
In the late morning of 7 October, H.S.H. the Prince was welcomed at the Palace of Serbia by President VUČIĆ during an official ceremony.
The two Heads of State met face to face to discuss issues of common interest before being joined by their respective delegations for a bilateral meeting during which issues relating to the environment, tourism, the promotion of sustainable development and renewable energies were discussed, the conservation of biodiversity and the preservation of seas and oceans, as well as the importance the Principality attaches to multilateralism, for which Monaco suggested the possibility of Serbia joining the "Alliance for Multilateralism", launched at the UN by France and Germany, joined by Monaco and many other countries.
With regard to economic affairs, President VUČIĆ and H.S.H. Prince Albert II attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia and the Monaco Economic Board, represented respectively by Mr Marko ČADEŽ and Mr Guillaume ROSE. This protocol concerns future cooperation and increased exchanges between the two entities, notably the prospect of a future move by Monegasque entrepreneurs to the Republic of Serbia. Economic aspects were also the subject of discussions, particularly in the areas of digital transition and transformation, new information technologies and international trade.
During an official ceremony, the President presented the Sovereign Prince with the decoration of the Order of the Republic of Serbia (on a scarf) as a symbol of the development and strengthening of peaceful cooperation and friendly relations between Serbia and the Principality of Monaco.
After this, the two Heads of State each made a statement to journalists of the Serbian press.
During the lunch offered by the President of the Government, H.S.H. the Prince and his delegation had the opportunity to exchange views with the Prime Minister H.E. Mrs Ana BRNABIĆ, Mr Ivica DAČIĆ, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Advisors in the Prime Minister's Office, as well as with H.E. Mrs Nataša MARIĆ, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to Monaco.
In the afternoon H.S.H. Prince Albert visited the National Museum in Belgrade. This place, the oldest museum in Serbia established in 1844 and located in Republic Square, displays sculptures of Lepenski Vir, an important archaeological site of the Iron Gates Mesolithic culture of the Balkans and ancient objects and fossils and frescoes from Đurđevi Stupovi, an Orthodox monastery founded in 1168.
Exceptional works such as The Gospel of Miroslav (manuscript of Serbian Prince Miroslav dating from 1180) as well as paintings by Serbian artists Katarina Ivanović and Paja Jovanović are also displayed here.
The temporary exhibition "Damnjan based on the experiences of Damnjan, works from the Gift Collection of Dragoslav Damnjanović" presents, until 13 December 2020, works by the contemporary Serbian painter and conceptual artist Damnjan whose work is marked by the use of all artistic forms such as photography, video, performing arts and recently portraits or self-portraits based on the "new pointillism" current (a pictorial technique using juxtaposed dots and squares to create a work).
This first day in Belgrade ended with an official dinner hosted by President H.E. Mr Aleksandar VUČIĆ in honour of the Sovereign Prince, accompanied by His delegation, Princess Maria Pia of Savoy and her two sons Prince Serge of Yugoslavia and Prince Michel of Yugoslavia.
On Thursday 8 October, the environmental part of this official visit continued at Bački Monoštor, a Serbian village near the Croatian border, located in the province of Vojvodina on the territory of the town of Sombor.
Situated on a small peninsula surrounded by the Danube and its canals, the village is nicknamed "Village of 7 canals" because it is only accessible by bridges, historically seven in number.
In the Monoštor Forest, the Sovereign Prince and his delegation, accompanied by the local authorities, H.E. Mrs Nataša MARIĆ, Ambassador of Serbia to Monaco and Mr Goran DJOKOVIC, Honorary Consul of Serbia in Monaco, visited the Biosphere Reserve of Backo Podunavlje, a site of more than 176,000 hectares which, since June 2017, has been part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
Later, they visited a bee farm as well as "Mali Bodrog", an ethno-house with the typical traditional setting, lifestyle and period objects of a Serbian house.
A lunch was offered to H.S.H. the Prince and his delegation by Mr Igor MIROVIĆ, Prime Minister of the Provincial Government of Vojvodina and Mr Antonio RATKOVIĆ, Mayor of the town of Sombor.
This is the first official visit of H.S.H. Prince Albert II to the Republic of Serbia, a country with which the Principality of Monaco has established diplomatic relations since 2007.
