MEDIA STATEMENT

The Tennis Australia, as the organizer of the Australian Open, is entitled to formulate the event policy regarding flags, symbols and all other aspects of the competition. The players, their teams and spectators, no matter what are the rules, are obligated to respect that fact if they want to be a part of the event. Having that in mind, the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Australia is of the opinion that everyone should obey the rules set by the organizers.
According to the Embassy’s knowledge, Mr Srdjan Djokovic himself has not displayed any forbidden symbols during the tournament and has not breached any rules set by the organizers. The videos and photos could be easily taken out of context and irresponsible individuals from the crowd after Novak’s brilliant victory on Wednesday night could easily misuse the presence and the celebration moment of Mr. Srdjan Djokovic for their own selfish purposes by taking the photos with him while by themselves holding prohibited symbols. The Embassy feels that part of the media is jumping into conclusions without giving Mr. Srdjan Djokovic benefit of the doubt.
Mr. Srdjan Djokovic is the citizen of the Republic of Serbia and the Embassy will provide him, as it would to any other citizen of our country, all assistance and protection that might be necessary.
The position of the Republic of Serbia towards conflict in Ukraine is well known – the Republic of Serbia provides full and principled support to observation of principles of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Just like it is committed to preservation of sovereignty and integrity of its own territory, the Republic of Serbia is likewise advocating respect for territorial integrity of other sovereign countries and the principle that borders can be changed only in accordance with the rules of international law. Fundamental principle of the contemporary international law is the principle of peaceful resolution of conflicts and refraining from threat and use of armed force against territorial integrity and political independence of any country whatsoever and in any way that is not in accordance with the United Nations Charter. Guided by fundamental principles of its foreign policy, the Republic of Serbia finds the violation of territorial integrity of any country, including Ukraine, very wrong.
The Embassy shares the opinion that the politics should be kept out of sports. Sports should be the instrument of connecting people. The organizers of the tournament are well known for their excellent organization and this year’s tournament should be remembered likewise and by the players who demonstrated the best performance and reached its final stages. Today we have two very interesting men’s semi-finals and all attention should be devoted to the matches and participating players.
Canberra, 27 January 2023