Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic will today begin a one week visit to Africa, during which he will tour Nigeria, Gabon, Congo and Kenya.

Jeremic told the press in Belgrade they will discuss the situation in Kosovo-Metohija at meetings with officials from these countries, adding that African countries are under pressure to recognise the independence of the southern Serbian province.

The Minister stressed that a large majority of African countries did not recognise the province and it is important that they do not change their stance.

He stressed that on January 1 Nigeria and Gabon will start representing Africa at the UN Security Council, which is why these countries’ stance is crucial for Serbia, announcing that another important topic of the talks will be economic cooperation between Serbia and these four African states.

There is huge potential there for economic cooperation. These are large markets and Serbian companies used to have a strong presence there, Jeremic said, adding that there is a possibility that they will re-enter the markets there.

Jeremic announced that while in Congo he will open the bridge on which the Serbian company Mihailo Pupin installed an automatic toll system.

This is just one of many projects our companies can carry out there. There is good political cooperation between Serbia and these countries and we should take advantage of that in the economic sense, the Minister concluded.