BELGRADE, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Serbia and Burundi have signed their very first cooperation agreement, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said following a meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers, Ivica Dacic and Ezechiel Nibigira, here on Wednesday.
Dacic and Nibigira said during their meeting that economic cooperation between their two countries is virtually non-existent, and that "the only product from Burundi that can be found in Serbia is coffee, imported through western mediators".
In the wake of the first general agreement on cooperation that was signed on Wednesday, Dacic said that the two countries will continue to work on establishing further contacts and are planning to sign agreements in several areas, such as culture, education, defense, security, the fight against terrorism and the economy.
Dacic added that Burundi is interested in cooperating with Serbia in the area of sport, and that the idea has been raised to host the African country's sportsmen at summer camps in Serbia.
The momentum for the expansion of bilateral relations came after Burundi decided last year to withdraw its earlier decision to recognize Kosovo, Serbia's southern province that unilaterally seceded in 2008.
Nigibira said that Burundi withdrew its decision because it opposes secession.
"We are here to tell the Serbian people that the decision that we have made is irreversible," he said.
Dacic said that last year's decision by Burundi has "changed the balance of power on international level and Serbia's position in the negotiation process", adding that to date 13 countries have withdrawn their previous recognition of Kosovo.
