Vucic on pollution: We want to ban import of Euro 3 engines, but won't confiscate existing vehicles

Printskrin: TV Prva

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that there is a real, non-negligible problem that has been around for decades when it comes to air pollution and that the goal is to find solutions, not justifications.

"There is a realistic problem, but there is also a campaign which is sometimes grotesque. The problem has existed for decades," Vucic noted when visiting TV Prva, stressing that there is no room for panic. He said that Belgrade, for example, had the same level of particles yesterday and the day before as Milan, which is one of the most developed cities, but also said that he doesn't want to seek justifications but instead solutions.

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He also said that the state will solve this problem in the next six, seven years with continuous work on solving the problem of pollution, and that the most important projects are desulphurization and introduction of green energy. As an example, he stated that a TENT (power plant) desulfurization project has been agreed with Japan's JICA, while something similar is done with the Chinese in the Kostolac power plant.

He said he has always shied away from shifting blame to others, and that the local government cannot solve this problem alone, but instead that this is a job for the state.

"And it will solve it, in the next six to seven years," said Vucic.

Printscreen: TV Prva

We don't want to look for justifications, he said, but for solutions.

"I am not scared and panicked," said Vucic, adding that his young child is going outdoors, while as an additional problem when it comes to pollution he identified a much higher level of road traffic, since about 20 percent of the total pollution comes from road traffic.

"There are 650,000 cars in Belgrade today, almost twice as many as 10 years ago. We have raised the standard by that much," said Vucic, adding that there are many people in central Serbia who drive cars with Euro 3 engines, whose further import should be banned.

He stated that EPS, Serbia's electric power company, has invested 475 million euro over the past five years in various filters on power plant blocks, but that this is not nearly enough.

"We must be fair and say what we can and want to do," said Vucic, stating that the biggest problem in Belgrade is due to coal and wood burning for heating, while there is a campaign against mini hydroelectric plants, which are a source of green energy.

"We should be fair toward ourselves and say whether we want green energy or not," said Vucic.

Vucic added that he asked Ana Brnabic to respond because people are panicking.

"Nothing special is happening, but not all of us are always doing our jobs and of that we are guilty, but there is no reason to panic," said Vucic, noting that he doesn't feel a problem because of the fog.

"It's not my fault. We shouldn't exaggerate, we've always had fog," he underlined.

"We've started working on the problem by and large, but it will not be enough, because investments must be made," he said, adding that the Germans have a plan to invest 86 billion in green traffic in order for railways to take over transportation.

We will continue on that path and invest 3.5, up to 4 billion euros in relieving road traffic over the next five years, but, he added, even that's not enough.

The situation in Montenegro

Vucic once again stressed his support for Serbs in Montenegro fighting for their Church, saying that this was an attack on the Serbian Orthodox Church, SPC, as a whole, not just on one metropolitanate.

"They strive to erase the name of the Serbian Church in Montenegro, leaving only some metropolitanates and councils. That way somebody will try to calm the passions down there. What I said to Djukanovic and the people in the Church remains the same. I don't prevent the Church expressing itself on national issues, but they can't prevent me from express my opinion either," said Vucic, adding that his relationship with Milo Djukanovic is decent but that he will not renounce his words.

"It's quite a decent relationship, as becomes two presidents. I will certainly not send tanks to Montenegro. But on the other hand, I have enough honor to say what the Serbian interests are down there. And our people are as many as 28 percent in Montenegro. They are trying to reduce their numbers, but they will not succeed," said Vucic.

The president said he expects nothing from the new Croatian president, Zoran Milanovic.

 

 

 

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"Srbija više ne stoji u mestu, mi danas najbrže napredujemo, naša stopa rasta biće jedna od najvećih u Evropi sa 4 odsto rasta, a 3,5 odsto su bile prognoze. Borim se za radnike i da povećamo minimalac. Srbiji pada nivo javnog duga, a istovremeno su nam investicije sve veće. Nezaposlenost je jednocifrena. Posvetiću se tome kako penzije da nam rastu. Moj posao je da govorim o važnim nacionalnim pitanjima. Imali smo rekordnu godinu što se tiče investicija, najbolja godina u istoriji Srbije, kao što danas imamo najveće plate i penzije, ali to nije dovoljno, zato nastavljamo da radimo. Svakoga dana otvaramo novi pogon." - Predsednik Vučić bio je gost emisije @jutronaprvoj.A post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Jan 17, 2020 at 12:25am PST

"The only thing I want to see is what they can do for Serbs, and what we can do for Croats. We need to work with everyone," says Vucic.

He also spoke about the Swiss model when it comes to pensions, and noted that such a model was not applicable but is instead a corrective model.

Vucic said the basic salary is now 170 euros higher than it was before.

"Nurses were earning 282 euros in 2011 and 403 today," he said, adding that it's a shame that the state and the media support and praise the process of people leaving the country. Vucic said that it's difficult to counter a generalized story that goes back decades - that everywhere is better than Serbia.

"You speak today about how many years we need to catch up with Hungary, Croatia, but we are moving faster than those countries because we are no longer standing in place and no longer regressing. We expect average growth to be more than 4.5-5 percent. And that is why we are increasingly working with the World Bank. The IMF works with us on public finances, it checks our budget," the president of Serbia said.

About Tanja Fajon

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stressed today that he has no problem with European Parliament member Tanja Fajon, except that she isn't noticing how much the rights of Serbs in Slovenia are threatened.

Appearing on the morning program of TV Prva, Vucic said that Fajon is worried about the situation around the media in Serbia, as well as the boycott of the opposition. When asked why he was arguing with her, Vucic said that he was not doing that but was only protecting Serbia's interests, his country, and acting as president of a sovereign state.

Printscreen: TV Prva

"She doesn't notice how endangered the rights of Serbs in Slovenia are. People need to know that Serbs are the largest ethnic group in Slovenia, but the only ones who are not entitled to be a national minority. She doesn't worry about that," he said.

On elections

"I am not asking for votes, I am saying to use the right to vote. I only call for votes in the election campaign," the president said on TV Prva.

On changes

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today that if the Serbian Progressive Party, of which he is the leader, gains citizens' trust in the upcoming elections, more than 60 percent of the party's local officials will be replaced.

"There will be big changes because after four, five or six years in power, new energy is needed," said Vucic.

The president also said that there would be big changes in the Serbian government, which also happened after the previous parliamentary elections, but, as he said, not enough had been done.

"I protect each of the ministers when they are attacked, sometimes I fight for them more strongly than they do for themselves, not because I won't allow criticism of the government but because the government is doing a tough job," said Vucic.

Vucic also said that he believes that the capital of political parties is not in real estate, but in people.

"The Serbian Progressive Party works systemically and systematically, we also have a youth academy within the SNS, precisely because we believe that they are the future," said Vucic, and when asked if he thought that so many personnel changes would be risky, he replied: "I don't care whether something is risky or not."

About Euro 3 engine vehicles

"I spoke with people from the government and we want to ban the import of Euro 3 engines, but we will not confiscate vehicles from people who already have them," Vucic explained, adding that there are concrete steps, such as desulphurization in TENT (power plant), which will solve many problems.

"My three children live in the most polluted part of Serbia and of Belgrade, in New Belgrade, but we're regularly taking Vukan (his youngest child) out, my parents did the same with me," Vucic said, urging against any panic about the level of air pollution.

"That is why I don't want to ask for justifications and that is why I asked what's happening with (environment) Minister Trivan. What is a problem today is an incomparably higher volume of road traffic. In central Serbia, above all, there is a larger number of cars with Euro 3 engines," said Vucic.

(Telegraf.rs)