Ambassador Irena Šarac is a seasoned diplomat and scholar with over two decades of experience in diplomacy. She currently serves as the ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the Kingdom of Spain. She previously served as the Acting Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Bilateral Cooperation, she has played a pivotal role in shaping Serbia’s diplomatic engagements. A graduate of the University of Belgrade with a degree in Chinese Language and Literature, she further specialized in international relations, focusing her research on multilateralism and power dynamics in the United Nations. Her career includes leadership roles such as Head of the Department for Asia, Australia, and the Pacific, along with diplomatic postings in Greece and China, where she attended as a member of Serbian delegations in the Forums of the key international initiatives like the Belt and Road Summit.
Thank you for joining me here today. I appreciate getting your perspective on how relations are between Serbia and Spain and between Serbia and the European Union. As such, I want to start off by asking, how would you describe the current state of diplomatic and economic relations between Serbia and Spain? Are there any specific areas you see potential for further collaboration?
First of all, thank you very much for having interest in this topic. As you know, Serbia and Spain have a very long tradition of diplomatic relations which have existed since 1916. This means that we have more than a century of very close and friendly relations; and what I want to emphasize at this moment is that we are passing through the best phase of our relations ever. We are very proud of this. In February 2022, we had the visit of our President to Spain and after that in July 2022, we had a visit of your Prime Minister, President of your government, Mr. Sanchez, to Serbia. This is the first Prime Ministerial visit from Spain to Serbia ever, including the times of the former Yugoslavia. So it is very important for both countries that we are putting efforts in order to deepen and enhance our relations and cooperation to be the best possible. This is because we have huge potential not just in the field of the economy, but also in all the other fields including culture and education. Political dialogue is the baseline for the development of all the other fields. This is why we are very proud that we are witnessing this phase of the diplomatic relations that we are passing through right now.
On that strong note, I want to discuss the situation in Kosovo. Spain has been a strong supporter of Serbia’s stance on Kosovo. How does this support influenced the bilateral relationship between both countries?
I think this is one of the main elements in our political relations. We highly appreciate the principled position of Spain regarding the issue of Kosovo. This is the issue of the utmost importance for Serbia and its people. This issue has very deep historical roots and what is very important to emphasize at this moment is that one of the main principles of international law and order are those values and principles stipulated in the UN Charter. This should and must be the basis of all the international relations in the world, especially now that we are facing very difficult and complicated challenges on the global level. We have the war in Ukraine, a very complicated situation in Gaza, though not only Gaza but the whole of the Middle East. So this is why we have the obligation, the whole world has the obligation to very strictly support and respect all the main principles of international law and order, and I am glad that Spain is the country that shows this kind of approach to every single case. No matter what, whether it’s with regards to Serbia, or with regards to the war in Ukraine, Spain has very principled position when it comes to international law and order and the UN Charter. It’s something that is of valuable importance at this very moment, and we need more countries which have this kind of very principled approach, because without principles we will continue having all the problems that we now face with on a global level.
On the topic of principles and alignment, Serbia has been negotiating EU membership for several years now. What do you see as the key challenges that Serbia must overcome to advance its session process? And how is Serbia addressing these issues?
First of all, unfortunately, it’s not for several years. Serbia is on that path since 2000. It has been almost 12 years since we began to formally engage in the process of European integration, having in mind that we formally opened the negotiations in January 2013, during the Greek Presidency of the European Union. Despite the fact that we fulfilled many criteria until now, we have, unfortunately, had some political obstacles. One of the main issues is, of course, the issue of Kosovo. As you probably know, the Brussels Agreement was signed in April 2013, almost 12 years ago, yet despite that we in Belgrade are very constructive, we really need progress and dialogue with Pristina. Especially because of the Serbian population that lives in the northern and others parts of Kosovo. On the other side, we have the authorities in Pristina which do not have that kind of approach and understanding, so they are not ready for making a compromise agreement or any kind of progress in our dialogue because of the support that they have from some Western countries which support the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo. I take this opportunity to remind that the majority of UN member states do not recognize the independence of Kosovo as it is not in line with the UN charter and the main principles of international law and order.
So that’s the main obstacle. Apart from that, of course, since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022, we have other political obstacles which are not so transparent. Serbia has a very principled position regarding this war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, February 2022, Serbia has an unchanged position on this conflict and this war. We immediately condemned the aggression of Russia against Ukraine and we have a very strict, principled and clear position regarding the respect of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and not only Ukraine, but of all the UN members. So it’s very clear we are providing assistance and help to Ukraine and its people. But the obstacle is that we haven’t imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation, and it’s not because of the fact that we support somebody. It’s because of our experience with sanctions that were imposed on us during the 1990s. All of us who lived in Serbia that period, we experienced sanctions and we are aware that sanctions are not the right way and do not hit those who should be hit by them. They hit the common people, ordinary people. So that’s why we are principally against the sanctions and
that’s the main reason why we haven’t imposed sanctions on Russia. But on the other side, we don’t do anything that is harmful for the sanctions that exist by the European Union. So we just have a very principled position regarding the bilateral sanctions against any single country in the world. Additionally, what I want to emphasize is that our new foreign policy aim is to fulfill all the criteria for EU membership by the end of 2026. We are going to do our homework and then we are going to wait for the decision of the EU member states. That is our aim and our priority. Membership in the European Union is our main foreign policy priority and we are going to do our part of the job in order to be a full member state.
Thank you for that. So you mentioned that becoming a full member of the European Union is one of Serbia’s top foreign policy priorities. So I wanted to ask you, how does Spain support Serbia’s EU ambitions? And are there any lessons that Serbia can learn from Spain’s own experience with European?
Spain is very supportive of our European Union membership and not only of our membership to the European Union, but also of the membership of all the countries of the Western Balkans, and we are really grateful for that. That support was very visible and transparent during the Spanish Presidency of the European Union in the second-half of 2023. So it was not only a rhetorical priority, but it was very visible and it is always visible. We are getting the support from Spain in some projects as well as sharing their experiences. Of course we can learn a lot of things from Spain, especially having in mind that Spain has been a full member state of the European Union for almost forty years, since 1986. It is a country with very useful experience and we are trying to get the best possible advice for Spain and we do have very, very strong and open support from all the Spanish institutions, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
That’s great to hear. So now I want to move on to some of the more geopolitical questions. As you know, Europe has recently been having quite a string of geopolitical crises. So given these challenges that Europe faces, how do you see Serbia’s integration into the EU contributing to the overall stability and security of the continent?
Well, as you know, Serbia is a country with a very long, very rich and very glorious history.
Serbia was on the right side of history in the first and second world wars. Unfortunately, we lost 1/3 of our male population in the First World War. By population size, we were the country that had the most victims. But I would like to emphasize that we were on the right side of history in both world wars. It is not easy to be a country placed in such a complicated and attractive geostrategic position. We are in the heart of Europe, in the heart of the Balkan peninsula. And that’s probably the reason why we had such a difficult history in some periods of our existence as a country, and we have, as I mentioned, a very, very long history. I think our experience as a country that was also one of the founders of the United Nations, one of the founders of the Non-aligned movements, is very useful and contributing to the European Union. The fact that we have very developed and friendly relations with the majority of the countries of the Non-aligned movement can be very beneficial to the whole European Union, especially having in mind that the globalization process and the fact that the world is changing requires from the EU to have a much broader perspective. The world has changed a lot since the 1990s. As you know now, the emerging region is the Asia-Pacific region. The African region is developing very fast. The region of Latin America is also very important. So the world is much more global and the distances became relative and irrelevant. That’s why we must change our approach. China, for example, is the second world economy. India, Brazil, the BRICS countries – they are so important in the world economy and we have to take that into consideration, because with different perspectives and different challenges, all the countries in the world, including the international organizations and the European Union, should and must change their approach to the global challenges.
So going back to the topic of the EU beginning to expand, based on a lot of these geopolitical considerations that you’ve recently mentioned, there is a new focus on EU enlargement. Do you feel optimistic about Serbia’s timeline for joining the EU? Or do you feel that there could be potential unforeseen delays in the coming decade?
Well, as I mentioned, our aim is to fulfill all the criteria for the membership by the end of 2026. And that is our part. And the other part is on the EU Member States. As I previously mentioned, there are some obstacles and our membership in the European Union depends pretty much on the will of the European Union Member States, on the first place political will.
Given all the challenges world is currently facing with, my personal impression is that diplomacy is not very successful these days. It’s the 21st century and we now have had the war in Ukraine for almost three years. I hope that we will not enter the fourth year, but it will be three years in February, and it is really a huge failure of diplomacy on the global level. We have had the war in Gaza for more than a year now. We had a very complicated situation in the Middle East. So many conflicts, so many challenges. And diplomacy is unfortunately pretty much invisible. So that’s why we need some different approaches. All those elements are affecting European Union policy regarding enlargement. But, what is on us, we are going to fulfill by the end of 2026.
You mentioned diplomacy is important in the 21st century, and arguably it’s more important than ever. So I’d like to conclude by asking you during your time as Ambassador of Serbia to Spain, what are some of the programs or projects that you would like to initiate to foster better relations between both countries?
Well, we have very high ambitions. Serbia is going to be the host of the Expo 2027. This is going to be the first EXPO ever held in our region. Because this is very important we are going to put in the maximum effort to be the best possible host. I don’t know if you have ever visited Belgrade, or Serbia, but I hope that you will have the opportunity to visit our country. It’s a country with a people with a very high level of hospitality, we share a similar mentality with Spain and its people, and I am quite sure that everybody who will visit Serbia, especially during the period from 15th of May until the 15th of August of 2027, when the exhibition is going to be held, will be positively surprised and will fully enjoy our country and its people.
I mentioned that as the first element because we do hope that Spain is going to be one of the main countries that are going to present the potentials of their economy because we have so much in common and we have so much to offer to each other. Our political relations are passing through the best phase ever. The two presidents – President of the Spanish Government and the President of Serbia do have very close personal relations and that is a very important base for the development of the political dialogue.
But what we want to achieve is the best possible level of cooperation in all the fields. We are going to mark the 110th anniversary in of our diplomatic relations in 2026. In 2027, when the EXPO is going to be hard, we are going to mark the 50th anniversary of establishing Embassies on the level of Ambassador in each other’s countries. In December 2024, we marked the 20th anniversary since the opening of the Institute Cervantes in Belgrade, which is the only in the region. The Spanish language is very popular in Serbia. So, we have so many very important anniversaries during these years. We have so many ideas, so many projects that we are going to focus on. One of the main priorities will be the strengthening and deepening of our economic relations. Spain is the 4th economy of the EU, and is the 14th economy on the global level. It’s visible that Spanish foreign policy is very active. On the other hand, Serbia is the second fastest growing economy in Europe. It’s visible that Spanish foreign policy is much more active on the global level that it was several years ago and Spain now has the role on the global level that it deserves because it is a big country with a very long and rich history and with so much to offer. It has a lot to contribute on the global level, especially in these challenging times.
This is especially true as the foreign policy approach of Spain is something that is very needed in the current global situation. This is because a foreign policy based on the principles of international law and order is something that is a must now. As I mentioned at the beginning of this conversation, I think we do have problems and conflicts at the global level because the main principles of international law and order are not respected by all the countries of the world. This is why we have the Kosovo issue. It is very comfortable to be a Serbian or a Spanish diplomat, because we can say that in every single case that we do respect the international law and order and the main values and principles of the UN Charter, because that is really the truth. But it is not the case with some other countries, because they apply international law very selectively.
Thank you very much Ambassador. That was the last of my questions. Thank you very much for having this interview with me. I very much appreciate it and I hope that our readers will feel the same.