Establishment of Diplomatic Relations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

May 21, 1997

1. The Government of Japan has decided to establish diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Official letters to this effect were exchanged on May 20 in Belgrade between Mr. Keisuke Oba, Japanese Chargé d' Affaires ad interim to the FRY, and Mr. Danilo Vucetic, Director, Department for Asia, Australia and Pacific of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the FRY.
   
   
2. In the process of the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), Serbia and Montenegro, both constituent republics of the former Yugoslavia, proclaimed the establishment of the FRY in April 1992. Considering that the FRY fulfills the requirements of a state and that it has come to be generally regarded by the international community as a newly independent state that is one of the successor countries of the former Yugoslavia, and also taking account of the development of the situation in the region since the conclusion of the Dayton Peace Agreement up to recently, the Government of Japan has decided to establish diplomatic relations with the FRY.
   
   
3. Taking this opportunity, the Government of Japan has reiterated its call for the authorities of the FRY to, among others, further promote democratization in the country, improve the human rights situation of minority peoples, and make further efforts in its compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement.