Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told Radio Srbija that relations with China are a top priority for Serbia. Protection of human rights is a precondition for Serbia's European Union integration, the minister said after a meeting in Belgrade. But, he stressed, China is one of four pillars of Serbian foreign policy. Serbia stepped up relations with China in 2009, when it named Beijing its "fourth pillar" of foreign policy after Brussels, Washington, and Moscow.