NEW YORK - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic conferred with Slovak President Andrej Kiska and Namibian President Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba on the sidelines of the UN Generals Assembly in New York on Thursday.

Nikolic said in the talks with his Slovak counterpart that bilateral relations are exceptionally good, adding that the Slovak minority in Serbia, which is well-known for its diligence and kindness, stands as a special connection.

Serbian President thanked Slovakia for not recognizing Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence, stressing that Serbia is building a better society for its citizens, the Serbian delegation told Tanjug.

Serbia's economic situation is bad because the economic policy was badly conducted in the past, the president said.

We undersold state companies and took out expensive loans. Now, the government is paying the price of this wrong policy and must implement the difficult reforms that will last until production starts again and jobs are created, he said.

Slovak President Andrej Kiska said that Serbia is one of Slovakia's most important partners, adding that the bilateral relations should be promoted even further.

We support your EU integration pathway and you have our full support, Kiska said.

The Namibian president underlined during the meeting with Nikolic that his country does not recognize Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence because of the friendship it has with Serbia, and Nikolic thanked for such a principled stance.

Our friendship is traditional, and I would like it to continue in the future. You are now building your country on the principles of freedom. We have had a remarkable cooperation but our economic relations are not strong enough. We will endeavor to make this cooperation much stronger, said Nikolic.

I wish your students were studying in Serbia as they used to. Currently, there are only three of them. This is a great way to draw peoples closer. I wanted to meet you and show you that nothing has changed. We are building our country, opening chapters, but we want to cooperate with you closely, Nikolic said.

Our friendship dates back to the time when we were not free. We, as UN members, have a lot in common, Pohamba said.

We admit that there is little information about you that we receive, only through the world media and our ambassador to the UN. Such a gap in communication must be filled. We want to build friendship with the EU countries and those that are not members of the union, said the Namibian president.