Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan on Wednesday attended a welcome banquet held by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his wife Tamara at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade.
Xi, accompanied by his wife, arrived in the Serbian capital late on Tuesday for a state visit at the invitation of Vucic, with this being the president's second visit to the eastern European country in eight years.
While giving a toast at the banquet, Xi said that Serbia, which is located in "the east of the West, and the west of the East," has enjoyed the reputation of being "the key to the Balkans."
For thousands of years, diverse civilizations of the Eurasian continent have integrated and collided here, giving the Serbian nation a hard-working, kind-hearted, and strong character, said Xi.
Under the leadership of President Vucic, the Serbian government and people have worked hard and made remarkable achievements in socioeconomic development and improving people's livelihoods; national confidence and pride have been continuously enhanced; and national development and rejuvenation have bright and broad prospects, said Xi.
Noting that the Chinese people have a special friendly bond with Serbia, Xi said that the Yugoslav film "The Bridge" and the song "Bella Ciao" are very popular in China, inspiring a sense of patriotism and the anti-fascist spirit, and that this had accompanied him throughout his own youth.
Xi also noted that Serbian sports and cultural figures, such as tennis champion Novak Djokovic, basketball star Nikola Jokic, and film director Emir Kusturica, are all well-known in China.
The high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Serbia has achieved strong momentum and fruitful results in recent years, becoming a vivid example of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Chinese president said.
Xi also pointed out that earlier that day, he and President Vucic held comprehensive and in-depth talks, reached many important consensus, and signed a joint statement on building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, which marks a new historic leap in bilateral relations between China and Serbia.
Noting that China-Serbia relations are at a new starting point and has precious opportunities and bright prospects, Xi said that China is willing to work with the friendly Serbian people to strive for a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era.
Serbia is the second leg of Xi's ongoing three-nation European tour. He wrapped up a three-day visit to France on Tuesday and will later head to Hungary after concluding his stay in Serbia.
Xi attends welcome banquet hosted by Vucic
Xi attends welcome banquet hosted by Vucic
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a hard landing in Iran's northwestern province of East Azerbaijan on Sunday, state-run IRIB TV reported.
Raisi’s helicopter was part of a convoy of three helicopters which was on its way from Khoda Afarin County, where Raisi had attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, to the provincial capital Tabriz where Raisi was scheduled to attend the inauguration of a petrochemical complex, according to the report.
"On May 19 local time, the helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi made a hard landing in East Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran. According to our investigation in Iran, the incident took place near the Varzaghan area of East Azerbaijan. From the live broadcast on Iranian national television, we can see that the entire area of the accident site is in a state of severe foggy weather, which caused great trouble to the search and rescue work. In addition to Iranian President Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan Province, and other officials and entourage were also on the helicopter," said Li Jiannan, a CCTV reporter in Iran.
Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi attributed the helicopter's rough landing to the unfavorable weather conditions, which he said also impacted search and rescue work.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pirhossein Kolivand told IRIB TV that 40 rapid reaction teams had rushed to the scene and were monitoring the region while noting that there were difficulties in reaching the scene by land or by air due to the mountainous terrain and the bad weather conditions.
Kolivand, however, said drones were being used to search the region.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri has ordered the army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the police to make all-out efforts to search for and rescue the president and his accompanying team, said the Iran Newspaper.
Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said medical teams had been stationed near the possible crash site.
Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said in a post on social media platform X that Vice President Mohsen Mansouri and several cabinet members were on their way to Tabriz after a meeting in Tehran.
Following the incident, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressed his hope that President Raisi and accompanying officials would be able to return home safely, saying that everyone should pray for them. Iranian people do not need to worry, and the work of the country and the government will not be affected, he said.
Following reports of the incident, leaders of neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan and Iraq, expressed concern over the developments and said they were ready to assist in search and rescue efforts.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the same day, saying that Türkiye is following the incident and hopes that Iranian President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian and other Iranian officials are safe and healthy. Türkiye has taken action to provide support for the search and rescue operation, the statement said.
Iranian president's helicopter makes hard landing in NW province
