Munich Security Conference

The newly- elected UN Secretary General António Guterres is expected to arrive in Moscow on November 24, where he will meet head of state Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, reported TASS News Agency.

Germany has to increase defence expenditures to 2% of GDP of the country, stated German chancellor Angela Merkel, reported Reuters.

Merkel, however, does not expect this target to be reached any time soon.

Russian and Serbian positions on current international problems are similar or close, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

A statement issued after the two countries' foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Ivica Dacic, met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, said that relations between Russia and Serbia have the character of a strategic partnership.

The rapid changes and escalated tension in the Syrian civil war have been occupying international agenda for a very long time. Indeed, it has become a crucial issue for global security with its convoluted social, economic, humanitarian, military, and geostrategic aspects.

Abandoned by France, defied by eastern Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel cuts a lonely figure in her struggle for EU "solidarity" on the refugee crisis ahead of a Brussels summit.

Belgrade respects international obligations and Germany's position - but will not allow everyone else to close their borders and have refugees stay in Serbia.

This is what Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said late on Thursday while taking part an event at the Munich Security Conference.

NATO Defence Ministers have agreed on an enhanced forward presence on the eastern part of the Alliance, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.

Serbia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic will take part in the 52nd Munich Security Conference on February 12-14.

His ministry announced on Wednesday he would travel to Germany at the invitation of the chairman of the conference, Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger.

Starting on Friday and for the next year, Germany will hold the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Germany will formally assume this role during a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, on January 14. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will present the program and priorities of his country's presidency.

Germany's defense minister has rejected the U.S. call for her country to make more contribution to the military effort in the fight against Islamic State.

Germany is already engaged in a number of military fronts in the fight against extremist groups, including Mali and Afghanistan, said Ursula von der Leyen.