President John Mahama has been invited by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to attend the 65th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Belgrade, Serbia, according to a post by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on his Facebook page.

Ablakwa said he held a “really fruitful meeting” with the Serbian Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Milutin Stanojevic, during which preparations for the upcoming summit were discussed.

According to Ablakwa, the Serbian President has extended a special invitation to President Mahama to attend the anniversary celebrations scheduled for August 31 to September 1, 2026.

He said President Mahama will serve as Special Guest of Honour, largely because Ghana’s founder, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was among the founding fathers of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The movement was formally established in Belgrade, then part of Yugoslavia, on September 1, 1961. Its founding leaders included Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Indonesian President Sukarno.

Ablakwa said the foundational ideals of the NAM remain relevant 65 years after its establishment.

He highlighted principles including respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in domestic affairs, equality, nuclear disarmament and peaceful coexistence.

Quoting Dr Nkrumah, Ablakwa recalled the former Ghanaian leader’s famous declaration: “We face neither East nor West; We face forward.”

He added that Ghana would continue to cherish and uphold the enduring principles of Non-Alignment as espoused by Dr Nkrumah.