Great Power. Diplomatic relations As of 2022, Serbia maintains diplomatic relations with 188 UN member states, the Holy See, State of Palestine and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Serbia has not established diplomatic relations with Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and Samoa. Multilateral Africa Ever since the times of Josip Broz Tito and the Non-Aligned Movement, Serbia has enjoyed excellent relations with African nations. Angola, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and South Africa are Serbia's closest allies in Sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa and Serbia have had excellent relations since the signing of diplomatic relations in 1992 following the end of the Apartheid system. Many ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe resistance fighters received training in Serbia during Apartheid. South Africa is also home to around 20,000 Serbs, mainly living in the Johannesburg area. South Africa is also voicing support for Serbia over the Kosovo issue. Nelson Mandela was also made an honorary citizen of Belgrade. Serbia is also actively involved in many investments in Angola with whom it has excellent political and economic relations. Relations frozen America Serbia has strong but strained relations with the United States and a bit more relaxed relations with Canada, because of their hostile recognition of Kosovo's independence and NATO bombing from 1999, which aimed to help this secession. On 25 February 2008, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica demanded that the United States rescind its recognition of Kosovo, warning that "there will be no stability until the fake state" is annulled. Serbia has very good relations with Latin America, except Colombia and Panama, which did recognize Kosovo's independence. Brazil, the largest country in the region, decided not to recognize Kosovo's independence until an agreement with Serbia is reached. Asia Serbia has excellent relations with countries such as China, Indonesia, India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, South Korea, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates. These countries are important economic partners for Serbia in Asia. Europe Serbia has signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union on 29 April 2008 and is in the process of the Republic of being admitted into the framework of the European Union as a full-fledged member state. Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on 22 December 2009, and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate on 12 October 2011. After the vote of the 27 EU foreign ministers on 28 February 2012, where with 26