President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, says he shares with the Ghanaian President the need for independent countries to cooperate as sovereign nations and make their own decisions for the mutual benefit of the respective citizens.
President Vučić who described President Akufo-Addo as “a great erudite” said, “I learnt so many things from my friend, the President of Ghana, today speaking about world power, and as one of the great successors of the politics of such a great person as Nkrumah was.”
“We completely share some positions about the necessity of the countries that need to cooperate in the independent sovereign, to make their own decisions independently,” he stated.
President Vučić, made these assertions on Monday when he held bilateral talks with President Akufo-Addo on the sidelines of the ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
Speaking at a press conference, the Serbian President said Ghana and Serbia have pledged to build closer ties, and deepen the ties of friendship and bonds of cooperation, in the areas of agriculture, defence, artificial intelligence and digitisation, education, and the growth of their respective economies.
President Aleksandar Vučić thanked President Akufo-Addo and Ghana for the position taken regarding the territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia, stressing that such a position is appreciated and respected by the people of Serbia.
“You know that in politics and international relations nothing lasts shorter than gratitude but you will see when it comes to Serbia, we are incomparable, more loyal to our friends than many others and we will be able to return in the same manner of responsibility,” he indicated.
The Serbian President said “We offer our construction companies if the people of Ghana are interested, and we are ready to buy tropical fruits and many other products from Ghana if they are interested. Generally speaking, politically wise, not that we have no problems, but we understand each other very very well, but we must work to talk to each other more often, to see each other more often, and to have more frequent contact and to act together in the international scenes.”
With the increase in bilateral trade and the doubling of Serbian scholarship opportunities to Ghanaian students from 16 to 32, President Akufo-Addo on his part said, “we (in Ghana) know the important strides that you (Serbia) have taken in the world of digitalisation, as well as in artificial intelligence, and my understanding is that the majority of the young people who will come from Ghana will be in this area. I think it will be something that will be truly beneficial to our country.”
The Ghanaian President reinforced the necessity for closer ties of cooperation between Non-Aligned Movement countries and urged the need to deepen the bonds between Ghana and Serbia.
Speaking to the economics and politics with the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, President Akufo-Addo said the situation had shown Ghana, and Africans, the “ugly aspect of international cooperation.”
“There are people who hoarded samples and made it impossible for others to be able to have access. I think these are areas where the cooperation between countries like ours could have a very significant impact on how the world develops,” he said.
He said, there was hope ahead, especially for Serbia and Ghana that agreed on many important issues of the international agenda; “the most important being the urgent need for all of us to be able to drive our agenda, and not be the subject of anybody’s interests or wishes.”
On Ghana’s election onto the Security Council as a non-permanent member, President Akufo-Akufo thanked Serbia for supporting Ghana’s candidature, and urged Serbia to continue to assist Ghana “as indicated in your remarks so that we can produce good results from our membership there.”
He also expressed deep concerns about security in Africa — the Jihadist insurrection and terrorist activities in West Africa was becoming alarming and urged Serbia to help the region find solutions as they are matters of very great concern to the stability of our region.”
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD